| Abstract: | The kinetics of cholinesterase activity in the sensomotor cortex, hippocampus, and anterior hypothalamus was determined in 93 rats by an electrometric method using an automatic recording system. The localization of acetylcholinesterase in the cell structures was revealed histochemically. In the control animals acetylcholinesterase was distributed unevenly among these structures. In rats aged 1 month its activity was higher in the sensomotor cortex. At later age periods (6, 12, 24 months) the acetylcholinesterase activity was highest in the posterior hypothalamus. While the unevenness of distribution of this substance continued to be observed, the level of its activity fell with age. A redistribution of acetylcholinesterase activity compared with the control was found 15 min after subcutaneous injection of adrenalin (300 µg/kg). Its activity was maximal in the anterior hypothalamus. The acetycholinesterase activity in all these structures was lowered after subcutaneous injection of chloral hydrate (300 mg/kg). Meanwhile the differences in the character of its distribution between the individual structures disappeared. These results indicate definite correlation between the functional state of the CNS and the distribution of acetylcholinesterase activity in the brain structures studied.A. A. Bogomolets' Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 47–53, January–February, 1973. |
