Total Acetylcholine Content, and Activities of Choline Acetyltransferase and Acetylcholinesterase in Brain and Duodenum of SART-Stressed (Repeated Cold-Stressed) Rat

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The cholinergic activities in SART (specific alternation of rhythm in temperature)-stressed (repeated cold-stressed) rats, which are diseased rats with vagotonic-type dysautonomia, were examined with the following results. 1) A decreased content of total acetylcholine (T-ACh) and increased activities of choline acetyltransferase (CAT) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the basal ganglia and an increase in the T-ACh content and decrease in the AChE activity in the duodenum of SART-stressed rats reached the respective plateaus on day 5 of stress, which were maintained thereafter. CAT activity, however, in the hypothalamus was activated most on day 2. 2) These changes in SART-stressed rats were different from those in simple cold-stressed rats. 3) Subdiaphragmatic vagotomy inhibited the appearance of the changes in the duodenum, but not those in the hypothalamus of SART-stressed rats. 4) The sedative analgesic Neurotropin® prevented all the changes in SART-stressed rats described above. These results suggest that cholinergic neurons may be activated in both the hypothalamus and basal ganglia of the brain of SART-stressed rats, and the characteristic peripheral changes of the cholinergic system in the duodenum of SART-stressed rats may be under the control of the parasympathetic center.