Cholinergic Interneurons Are Differentially Distributed in the Human Striatum

BACKGROUND: The striatum (caudate nucleus, CN, and putamen, Put) is a group of subcortical nuclei involved in planning and executing voluntary movements as well as in cognitive processes. Its neuronal composition includes projection neurons, which connect the striatum with other structures, and interneurons, whose main roles are maintaining the striatal organization and the regulation of the projection neurons. The unique electrophysiological and functional properties of the cholinergic interneurons give them a crucial modulating function on the overall striatal response. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPLE FINDINGS: This study was carried out using stereological methods to examine the volume and density (cells/mm(3)) of these interneurons, as visualized by choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) immunoreactivity, in the following territories of the CN and Put of nine normal human brains: 1) precommissural head; 2) postcommissural head; 3) body; 4) gyrus and 5) tail of the CN; 6) precommissural and 7) postcommissural Put. The distribution of ChAT interneurons was analyzed with respect to the topographical, functional and chemical territories of the dorsal striatum. The CN was more densely populated by cholinergic neurons than the Put, and their density increased along the anteroposterior axis of the striatum with the CN body having the highest neuronal density. The associative territory of the dorsal striatum was by far the most densely populated. The striosomes of the CN precommissural head and the postcommissural Put contained the greatest number of ChAT-ir interneurons. The intrastriosomal ChAT-ir neurons were abundant on the periphery of the striosomes throughout the striatum. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: All these data reveal that cholinergic interneurons are differentially distributed in the distinct topographical and functional territories of the human dorsal striatum, as well as in its chemical compartments. This heterogeneity may indicate that the posterior aspects of the CN require a special integration of information by interneurons. Interestingly, these striatal regions have been very much left out in functional studies

Effect of loxiglumide (CR 1505) on CCK-induced contractions and 3H-acetylcholine release from guinea-pig gallbladder.

Release of [3H]-acetylcholine (3H-ACh) and muscle contractions in response to cholecystokinin (CCK) were measured and recorded simultaneously from isolated guinea-pig gallbladder. Cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK8) (10(-10)-10(-7) M) enhanced the release of [3H]ACh and the contractions of the muscle. TTX (10(-6) M) inhibited the CCK-induced release of 3H-ACh by only 30%. In Ca(2+)-free medium CCK8 had no effect. Loxiglumide, (CR 1505), a newly synthesized nonpeptide CCK-A-receptor antagonist, D.L-(3,4-dichlorbenzoilamino)-5-/N-(3-methoxypropyl)-pentylamin o-5-oxo-pentanoi c acid, antagonized both the ACh-releasing effect of CCK and the contractions in a dose-dependent manner. The affinity (pA2) of CR 1505 to CCK-receptors, determined by the shift of the concentration-response curves for CCK8 was 8.36. It was 5 logarithmic orders higher than the pA2 of proglumide. The IC50 value of CR 1505 calculated by the CCK-induced release of 3H-ACh was 10 nM. The results suggest the existence not only of muscular CCK receptors but also neuronal receptors for CCK probably located on cholinergic nerves

Neurotensin modulation of acetylcholine and gaba release from the rat hippocampus: an in vivo microdialysis study

The effects of neurotensin (NT) on the release of acetylcholine (ACh), aspartate (Asp), glutamate (Glu) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) from the hippocampus of freely moving rats were studied by transversal microdialysis. ACh was detected by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) with electrochemical detection while GABA, glutamate and aspartate were measured using HPLC with fluorometric detection. Neurotensin (0.2 and 0.5 μM) administered locally through the microdialysis probe to the hippocampus produced a long-lasting and concentration-dependent increase in the basal extracellular levels of GABA and ACh but not of glutamate and aspartate. The increase in the extracellular levels of GABA and ACh produced by 0.5 μM neurotensin in the hippocampus reached a maximum of about 310% for GABA and 250% for ACh. This stimulant effect of NT was antagonized by the NT receptor antagonist SR 48692 (100 μg\kg, i.p.). Local infusion of tetrodotoxin (1 μM) decreased the basal release of ACh, GABA, Asp, Glu and prevented the 0.2 μM NT-induced increase in GABA and ACh release. The effect of NT on the release of ACh was blocked by the GABA A receptor antagonist bicuculline (2–10 μM). Our findings indicate for the first time that neurotensin plays a neuromodulatory role in the regulation of GABAergic and cholinergic neuronal activity in the hippocampus of awake and freely moving rats. The potentiating effects of neurotensin on GABA and ACh release in the hippocampus are probably mediated by (i) NT receptors located on GABAergic cell bodies and (ii) through GABA A receptors located on cholinergic nerve terminals