Presynaptic Muscarinic Autoreceptors Research Articles

Investigation into atropine‐induced antinociception

1. The effect of atropine on the nociceptive system was examined in mice and rats by use of the hot-plate, writhing and tail-flick tests. 2. Atropine dose-dependently produced analgesia, no effect and hyperalgesia. Analgesia was observed in both species with doses ranging from 1 to 100 micrograms kg-1 while hyperalgesia was obtained with 5 mg kg-1. 3. Atropine antinociception was prevented by pirenzepine (0.1 microgram per mouse, i.c.v.), dicyclomine (10 mg kg-1, i.p.), atropine-methylbromide (0.5 microgram per mouse, i.c.v.) and hemicholinium-3 (1 microgram per mouse, i.c.v.). Naloxone (1 mg kg-1, i.p.), alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine (100 mg kg-1, s.c.) and reserpine (2 mg kg-1, i.p.) were ineffective. 4. The site of atropine analgesia is in the CNS since it exerts its antinociceptive effect also when injected i.c.v. (1-10 ng per mouse). Moreover drugs which do not cross the blood-brain barrier, such as hemicholinium-3, pirenzepine and atropine methylbromide, were unable to antagonize atropine analgesia if administered i.p. 5. Atropine also in vitro, showed a biphasic action on electrically-evoked guinea-pig ileum contractions. Concentrations between 10(-14) and 10(-12) M increased electrically and nicotine-evoked contractions but did not affect acetylcholine- and oxotremorine-evoked contractions. Concentrations above 10(-9) M inhibited both electrically- and drug (acetylcholine, nicotine and oxotremorine)-evoked contractions while they were ineffective on unstimulated ileum. 6. On the basis of the above findings, amplification of cholinergic transmission by very low doses of atropine is postulated, through a selective blockade of presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptors, as the likely mechanism of action. 7. Atropine antinociception, unlike oxotremorine antinociception, was obtained without any impairment of mouse rota-rod performance. 8. The antagonism by pirenzepine and dicyclomine of oxotremorine and atropine antinociception suggests that M1 muscarinic receptor subtypes are responsible for cholinergic analgesia.

Effects of atropine on the release of newly synthesized acetylcholine from rat striatal slices at various concentrations of calcium ions

The release of acetylcholine (ACh) from brain tissue is known to be inhibited by muscarinic autoreceptors on cholinergic nerve terminals but the mechanism of the inhibition is not understood. Atropine brings about an increase of ACh release by removing the inhibitory action of autoreceptors. We investigated whether the effect of atropine on the release of [14C]ACh newly synthesized during incubations from [U-14C] glucose depends on the concentration of Ca2+ in the medium. In rat striatal slices incubated in the presence of an inhibitor of cholinesterases and of 30 mmol/l K+, significant increases in the release of [14C]ACh elicited by atropine were only observed during incubations with very low concentrations of Ca2+. This finding supports the view that the activation of presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptors in the brain affects the release of ACh by reducing the availability of Ca2+ that is required for transmitter liberation.

A monoclonal antibody raised against plasma membrane of cholinergic nerve terminals of the Torpedo inhibits choline acetyltransferase activity and acetylcholine release.

Monoclonal antibodies were raised against the synaptosomal plasma membranes (SPMs) purified from the electric organ of the Torpedo. One antibody that reacts preferentially with SPMs rather than with other membrane fractions isolated from this tissue was previously found to inhibit hydrophilic and amphiphilic choline-O-acetyltransferase (ChAT) activity. On immunoblots of SPMs, this antibody recognizes two polypeptides of 135 and 66 kilodaltons that are related; the 66-kilodalton polypeptide appears to exist as a monomer and as a dimer in SPMs. The antibody was also able to inhibit the calcium-dependent release of acetylcholine in Torpedo synaptosomes without affecting the total neurotransmitter content. This inhibition was dependent on the antibody concentration and was observed when the release was elicited by either KCl depolarization or the calcium ionophore A23187; this suggests that inhibition was not mediated by a blockage of the depolarization-activated calcium influx. The inhibition could not be prevented by atropine, a result indicating that the antibody does not block release by mimicking the action of acetylcholine on presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptors. Thus, the antigen recognized by this antibody appeared to be involved in acetylcholine release; this antigen could be membrane-bound ChAT, another protein of the SPMs, or both.

Binding sites for [ 3H]AF-DX 116 and effect of AF-DX 116 on endogenous acetylcholine release from rat brain slices

The present study shows that the putative M 2 ligand, [ 3H]AF-DX 116, binds to two classes of muscarinic sites in homogenates of rat hippocampus, striatum and cerebral cortex: one with a high affinity ( K d < 5NM)/low capacity ( B max = 30−63fmol/mg protein), and a second of lower affinity (K d /s> 65 NM) and higher capacity (B max /s> 190 fmol/mg protein). In experiments which 1730 tested the effects of the muscarinic antagonists on acetylcholine (ACh) release from brain slices, the non-selective antagonists (-)-quinuclidinyl benzylate and atropine significantly enhanced the potassium (25 mM)-evoked release of ACh. This effect was mimicked by the M 2 ligand AF-DX 116, but neither the M 1-selective antagonist pirenzepine, nor the putative M 3-muscarinic antagonist, 4-diphenylacetoxy- N-methylpiperidine (4-DAMP), altered ACh release. Also, the muscarinic agonist, oxotremorine, significantly depressed evoked ACh release from brain slices, an effect that was completely antagonized by atropine or by AF-DX 116, but not by pirenzepine or 4-DAMP. Thus, it appears that presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptors in the rat hippocampus, striatum and cerebral cortex belong to the M 2 subtype of muscarinic receptors.

Effects of acetylethylcholine mustard on [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate binding and acetylcholine release in rat brain synaptosomes.

The effects of acetylethylcholine mustard and its aziridinium derivative (AMMA) on acetylcholine (ACh) release and [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) binding were studied in rat cortical synaptosomes. After incubation for 5 min at 37 degrees C, AMMA reduced [3H]QNB binding with an IC50 of 9 microM. Following incubation for 5 min with 50 microM AMMA and washing, there was a 62% reduction in the [3H]QNB binding capacity with no change in the KD value for the remaining receptors, a result indicating the irreversibility of the AMMA binding. AMMA and oxotremorine both reduced the basal and 30 mM K+-induced release of newly synthesized [3H]ACh in dose-dependent manners over a 2.5-min period. At identical 50 microM concentrations, AMMA produced a much longer inhibition of basal [3H]ACh release than oxotremorine did. The inhibition of basal and 30 mM K+-induced [3H]ACh release by AMMA (10-250 microM) was blocked by 2 microM atropine during a 2.5-min release incubation, but not during a 30-min release incubation. After synaptosomes were treated with 50 microM AMMA for 5 min and the unbound drug was washed out from the tissue, [3H]ACh release (basal and K+-induced) was reduced. AMMA (50 microM) reduced high-affinity choline uptake and ACh synthesis by greater than 90% in this tissue, but these effects did not account for the [3H]ACh release inhibition, because they were not atropine sensitive and hemicholinium-3 had no effect on [3H]ACh release under the conditions used in these studies, i.e., after extracellular [3H]choline was washed out. Taken together, these results suggest that AMMA may be an irreversible agonist at presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptors.

Amitriptyline and imipramine inhibit the release of acetylcholine from parasympathetic nerve terminals in the rat iris.

The electrically stimulated release of [3H]acetylcholine from the parasympathetic nerve terminals of the rat iris in vitro is increased in a dose-dependent manner by scopolamine but is decreased by the tricyclic antidepressants amitriptyline and imipramine. The increased release in the presence of scopolamine seems to be due to the blockade of a presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptor that, in the drug-free state, inhibits the release of acetylcholine. However, at drug concentrations that should have comparable antimuscarinic potency, the antidepressants inhibit the release of acetylcholine. This suggests that the anticholinergic side effects of the antidepressants may be due to the reduced release of acetylcholine from parasympathetic nerve terminals as well as a possible direct postsynaptic muscarinic receptor blocking action. Whatever the mechanism of this action, the antidepressants do not have the same effect as scopolamine at the presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptor in the rat iris.

EVIDENCE FOR THE PHARMACOLOGICAL SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE CENTRAL PRESYNAPTIC MUSCARINIC AUTORECEPTOR AND POSTSYNAPTIC MUSCARINIC RECEPTORS

Twenty antagonist substances with varying potencies for central and peripheral postsynaptic muscarinic receptors have been examined for effects on the central presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptor. This has been monitored by measuring the stimulating effects of the substances on acetylcholine synthesis by rat neocortical tissue prisms. Dose-response curves for selected agents showed that maximal stimulation of synthesis was to 136-140% of the value without an antagonist. At a concentration of 1 microM, 17 of the substances caused a significant increase in synthesis, whilst at 0.01 microM significant stimulation occurred with only atropine, dexetimide, N-methyl-piperdin-4-yl (R)-2-cyclohexyl-2-hydroxyl-2-phenylacetate, quinuclidinyl benzilate (QNB) and scopolamine. Linear regression analysis between synthesis values obtained with the substances and published data for the effects on either cholinoceptor-agonist induced contraction of guinea-pig ileum or the binding of [3H]-QNB to rat forebrain membranes gave correlation coefficients of r = 0.84 (P less than 0.01), and r = 0.75 (P less than 0.02) respectively. The results provide no indication of a pharmacological difference between the central presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptor and central and peripheral postsynaptic muscarinic receptors.

Role of dopamine receptors in the modulation of acetylcholine release in the rabbit hippocampus.

Modulation of acetylcholine release was studied in slices of the rabbit hippocampus preincubated with 3H-choline and then continuously superfused with a medium containing 10 mumol/l hemicholinium-3. Electrical field stimulation of the superfused slices elicited an increase in tritium outflow, which was tetrodotoxin-sensitive and largely calcium-dependent. Stimulus-evoked acetylcholine release in the rabbit hippocampal slices was modulated by presynaptic muscarinic autoreceptors, as has been shown previously for the rat hippocampus. Drugs with affinity for alpha- and or beta-adrenoceptors did not affect the evoked overflow of tritium from rabbit hippocampal slices. In contrast, the dopamine receptor agonist apomorphine (0.1 or 1 mumol/l) and exogenous dopamine (1 or 10 mumol/l) significantly reduced the evoked outflow by about 10 or 20%, respectively. This effect was antagonized by haloperidol (0.01 mumol/l) but not by phentolamine (1 mumol/l). Attempts to enhance (using nomifensine 10 mumol/l) or reduce (using haloperidol, up to 1 mumol/l; or bretylium, 1 mmol/l for 5 min) endogenous dopaminergic transmission in the hippocampal slices did not affect stimulation evoked acetylcholine release. In conclusion, presynaptic dopamine receptors modulating acetylcholine release are present in the rabbit hippocampus, but they seem not to be of physiological significance.

The effects of muscarinic receptor blockers on the turnover rate of acetylcholine in various regions of the rat brain

The actions of antimuscarinic agents (benztropine, trihexyphenidyl, and scopolamine) on the dynamics of acetylcholine (ACh) in central cholinergic neurons were examined in various rat brain areas. It was found that the pattern of changes in ACh turnover (TRACh) elicited by these drugs exhibited marked regional variations. After administration of the anticholinergic drugs, the TRACh in hippocampus and thalamus was increased, in cortex it was decreased, and in striatum it was unchanged. ACh concentration in the cortex and striatum was decreased while in hippocampus and thalamus ACh levels were unaltered. Further analysis of the cholinergic septo-hippocampal pathway using lesions of the fimbria-fornix and local drug injections into the septum argue against an in vivo action of these drugs on presynaptic or cell body muscarinic autoreceptors. Moreover, the data suggest that muscarinic receptor blockers cause an increased TRACh only in those areas where a feedback loop is operative, possibly by inhibiting a neuronal feedback loop involving at least one noncholinergic interneuron.