title: [Measurement of acetylcholine and sleep patterns].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acetylcholine is an essential neurotransmitter in the central nervous system as it has an effect on sleep, memory and learning. Intracerebral microdialysis is an in vivo surgical technique that is used to measure the concentration of substances in the extracellular space.
  
  
  METHODS
  The rats were stereotaxically implanted with microdialysis cannulae guided to the hypothalamic medial preoptic area and bipolar stainless steel electrodes to obtain sleep records simultaneously with microdialysis samplings during 24 hours exposed to clean air followed by 24 hours of exposure to ozone. Microdialysis fractions were injected into chromatograph system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that paradoxical sleep and wakefulness decreased by 54.2% and 27.9%, respectively, while slow wave sleep increased by 35.1% during the ozone exposure phase and a concomitant decrease of extracellular acetylcholine of 56.2% was observed during the light-dark phase.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  That surgical method employed using electroencephalography and intracerebral microdialysis allows the quantification of extracellular acetylcholine and simultaneously with patterns related to sleep. We propose that the decrease in paradoxical sleep is the behavioral expression of disruptions of cholinergic modulation and, that post-exposure effects observed in the hypothalamic medial preoptic area can be explained on the basis of the hypothalamic role in the sleep-wake cycle.
authors: Laboratorio de Neuroquímica, Instituto Nacional de Rehabilitación, D.F. México. alfa1360@yahoo.com.mx
authors: Alfonso
authors: A
authors: Alfaro-Rodríguez
authors: Rigoberto
authors: R
authors: González-Piña
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Bueno-Nava
authors: Alberto
authors: A
authors: Ávila-Luna
authors: Emilio
authors: E
authors: Arch-Tirado
mesh_terms: D000109:Acetylcholine / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D004569:Electroencephalography; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000109:Acetylcholine
keywords: Acetylcholine; electroencephalography; high-performance liquid chromatography; microdialysis