Changes in Muscarinic Binding in Distant Brain Regions Showing Neuronal Losses After Folic Acid Injections into the Substantia Innominata

Injection of folic acid (FA) into the nucleus substantia innominata (NSI) was found to decrease 3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (3H]QNB) binding in the frontal cortex, pyriform cortex, amygdala, and the NSI itself without changing the KD. Binding in the thalamus, caudate nucleus, hippocampus, and substantia nigra was not affected. 3H]Flunitrazepam binding was unchanged in all eight regions studied. Previous work indicates FA injections into the NSI produce epileptiform activity and cause loss of GABAergic and possibly other neurons in the frontal and pyriform cortices, the amygdala, and thalamus. The reductions of 3H]QNB binding in the first three of these regions are interpreted as indicating that many of the neurons lost are cholinoceptive, a finding that supports the previous hypothesis that activation of cholinergic projections from the NSI is an important part of the mechanism of cell loss in these regions.