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Effect of anesthetic doses of γ-hydroxybutyrate on the acetylcholine content of rat brain

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Summary

Gamma-hydroxybutyrate administered in anesthetic doses produces a time dependent increase in the levels of rat brain acetylcholine. A maximal increase in whole brain and subcortical levels of acetylcholine is observed about 15 min after administration of the lactone form of the drug. A similar GHB-induced increase in acetylcholine is observed in the striatum and a 75% increase in the hippocampus 15 min after administration of the drug. A good temporal correlation was not obtained between the increase in acetylcholine and the depth of anesthesia produced by the drug. Gamma-hydroxybutyrate did not cause a significant change in the striatal or hippocampal levels of choline. Possible mechanisms involved in the production of this increase in acetylcholine are discussed.

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Author notes

  1. Melvin H. Van Woert

    Present address: Departments of Neurology and Pharmacology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA

  2. Judith R. Walters

    Present address: Laboratory of Neuropharmacology, National Institutes of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 06508, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Vimala H. Sethy, Robert H. Roth, Judith R. Walters, James Marini & Melvin H. Van Woert

  2. the Connecticut Mental Health Center, 06508, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    Vimala H. Sethy, Robert H. Roth, Judith R. Walters, James Marini & Melvin H. Van Woert

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  1. Vimala H. Sethy
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  5. Melvin H. Van Woert
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Sethy, V.H., Roth, R.H., Walters, J.R. et al. Effect of anesthetic doses of γ-hydroxybutyrate on the acetylcholine content of rat brain. Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Arch. Pharmacol. 295, 9–14 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00509765

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00509765

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