Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound   Target Concepts: Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound

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Query: EC:3.1.1.8 (cholinesterase)
12,691 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Plasmapheresis combined with prednisone and azathioprine therapy produced striking clinical improvement in five patients with myasthenia gravis who still had moderate to severe disability despite thymectomy, high-dose prednisone therapy and optimal doses of cholinesterase inhibitors. Serial determinations of titers of serum antibody toward the acetylcholine receptor demonstrated a fall to 21 +/- 5 per cent (mean +/- S.D.) of the original levels concurrently with the patients' increasing strength. Clinically improved patients maintained lowered titers, whereas clinical relapses were associated with a rebound in titer. Our results suggest that plasmapheresis will find a place in the management of patients with myasthenia gravis, and they implicate antibodies to acetylcholine receptor as a pathogenic factor in this disease.
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PMID:Plasmapheresis and immunosuppressive drug therapy in myasthenia gravis. 91 42

The action of 1-pyrene-butyrylcholine, a new cholinergic fluorescent probe, has been studied at the cellular level using electrophysiological and fluorescence techniques. The spectroscopic properties of the probe were found to be similar to those pf pyrene-butyric acid, the excited-state lifetime in air-saturated aqueous solutions being 92 nsec. At micromolar concentrations the probe was found to exert a nondepolarizing, reversible blocking action at the neuromuscular junction of the frog. The same cholinolytic effect was observed in hypersensitive denervated muscles. The synaptic localization of the probe could be observed with fluorescence microscopy using sub- and micromolar concentrations. Treatment of the nerve-muscle preparations with proteolytic enzymes, resulting in the separation of the nerve ending from the muscle end-plate, enabled a distinction to be made between the fluorescence arising from these two parts of the synapse. Intense presynaptic fluorescence was observed, and was not altered by micromolar concentrations of alpha-bungarotoxin, d-tubocurarine, hemicholinium, or cholinesterase inhibitors. Faint reversible staining of the end-plate region was observed in enzymically treated muscles and was inhibited by prior treatment with alpha-bungarotoxin. Fluorescent alpha-toxin revealed similar patterns of fluorescence in the end-plate of enzyme-treated muscles. The postsynaptic localization of the fluorescent probe is therefore tentatively identified as the one producing the cholinolytic effect upon binding to acetylcholine receptor sites.
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PMID:1-Pyrene-butyrylcholine: a fluorescent probe for the cholinergic system. 108 Dec 27

Electron-microscope autoradiography of diaphragm endplates of the American brown bat, labeled to saturation with tritiated alpha-bungarotoxin, has been used as a means to localize and quantitate the acetylcholine receptor there. Analysis of the grain distribution in these autoradiographs reveals that the receptor sites in this endplate are located on the postsynaptic membrane at an average density of 8,800/mu2. The sites are distributed asymmetrically along that membrane, being concentrated at the crests of the postjunctional folds--that portion nearest to the presynaptic membrane. The receptor site density at these regions of the postsynaptic membrane is estimated to be 20,000--25,000/mu2 of membrane surface. A comparison of these membrane site densities with those of endplates of red and white fibers of the mouse reveals a close similarity. On this basis, it is suggested that the receptor site density at the crests of the folds may be a characteristic feature of endplates of vertebrates. In contrast to the acetylcholine receptor sites, cholinesterase sites (determined autoradiographically in 3H-diisopropylfluorophosphate-labeled endplates) are largely distributed in a uniform manner over the postjunctional folds. The function of the secondary folds is, therefore, reassessed. Ultrastructural evidence available from other laboratories on the spatial characteristics of transmitter release and of postsynaptic dense particles is in accord with a model drawn for this molecular architecture at the vertebrate endplate.
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PMID:The density of cholinergic receptors at the endplate postsynaptic membrane: ultrastructural studies in two mammalian species. 112 Oct 27

Abolition of cholinergic inhibition in the heart of fresh-water bivalves in absence of cholinesterase can be attained by inactivation of the acetylcholine receptor (R). The role of Ca in this process was studied. Determination of Ca in the perfusate at different stages of cholinergic inhibition showed that the concentration of Ca increased during the sistolic arrest, and the initiation of beats was accompanied by binding of Ca. This coincided with the onset of ATP release and went on till the complete desensitization. The increase of external Ca concentration up to 1.10-2M increased the half-time of desensitization while the binding of Ca with EDTA decreased it and eliminated the ATP anti-acetylcholine effect. Another bivalent ion, UO2, which binds phosphate groups, competes with Ca. The role of Ca and ATP in chemical inactivation of the acetylcholine receptor is discussed.
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PMID:[The role of Ca ions in desensitization induced by acetylcholine]. 120 72

We report here a case of myasthenia gravis complicated with hyperthyroidism and thymic hyperplasia. The patient was a 13-year-old girl with struma and hyperthyroidism which began at age 12. Two weeks following the initiation of treatment against hyperthyroidism she developed left blepharoptosis, diplopia, and dysphagia, which responded promptly to edrophonium administration. An increase of the anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody was found in the serum. A chest CT showed a large soft tissue mass in front of the ascending aorta, which was proven histopathologically as thymic hyperplasia. The patient underwent an extensive thymectomy and was placed on combination therapy with an anti-thyroid drug, glucocorticosteroid, and an anti-cholinesterase drug. Her symptoms and signs have been well controlled by this treatment. Coexistence of myasthenia gravis, hyperthyroidism, and thymic hyperplasia in childhood have never been documented in literature.
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PMID:A case of myasthenia gravis complicated with hyperthyroidism and thymic hyperplasia in childhood. 821 56

Insulin release is influenced by the autonomic nervous system. Regarding parasympathetic control, previous reports have shown that regulation of insulin release is executed exclusively through muscarinic receptors in the pancreatic islets. In the present study, however, we examined the effect on insulin release at the islet level of various agents affecting the parasympathetic nervous system, especially nicotinic receptor blockers. Pancreatic islets isolated from adult Wistar male rats were incubated with these agents and insulin release in the media was measured. Acetylcholine chloride (10(-5) M), as well as distigmine bromide (10(-6), 10(-5) M), both of which are cholinesterase inhibitors, stimulated insulin release, whereas atropine (5 x 10(-6), 5 x 10(-5) M) suppressed it. On the other hand, serum and IgG from myasthenia gravis patients, containing anti-acetylcholine receptor antibodies, affected insulin release, and alpha-bungarotoxin (10(-9)-10(-7) M), a nicotinic receptor blocker, stimulated insulin release dose-dependently. The present observations suggest that insulin release is influenced by the parasympathetic nervous system, mediated via not only muscarinic but also nicotinic receptors.
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PMID:Possible involvement of cholinergic nicotinic receptor in insulin release from isolated rat islets. 197 Dec 10

An impairment of cholinergic and somatostatinergic neurotransmission have been reported in dementia. Both acetylcholine and somatostatin are involved in the regulation of growth hormone (GH) secretion. The effects of GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) 1-44 on GH release have been studied before and after the pretreatment with pyridostigmine or pirenzepine in subjects with senile dementia of the Alzheimer type, multi-infarct dementia and mixed dementia. The data have been compared with those obtained in an age-matched healthy control group. The GH response to GHRH is similar in the patients and in the controls, though the peak occurrence is significantly delayed in dementia. The cholinesterase inhibitor pyridostigmine enhances significantly the GH response to GHRH in both groups. The responses obtained in demented subjects are significantly larger than those found in the controls. Pirenzepine, a muscarinic receptor blocker, inhibits the GHRH effect on GH secretion in both groups. The findings may be interpreted in terms of an underlying impairment of the hypothalamic cholinergic neurotransmission, with an acetylcholine receptor supersensitivity that becomes apparent when the cholinergic tonus is enhanced by the inhibition of cholinesterase by pyridostigmine. No significant differences, due to the type of dementia, have been observed.
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PMID:Cholinergic modulation of growth hormone-releasing hormone effects on growth hormone secretion in dementia. 198 29

Intracellular Ca2+ mobilization in neuro-skeletal muscle synapse was studied by measuring Ca2(+)-aequorin luminescence transients (Ca2+ transients). Ca2+ transients were categorized into three groups as follows: (1) The 1st phase of rapid Ca2+ mobilization was accompanied with twitch tension, (2) the 2nd phase of slow Ca2+ mobilization was not accompanied with twitch tension, and only observed in the presence of cholinesterase inhibitors, and (3) the 3rd phase was spontaneous Ca2+ mobilization which was rather related to contracture. The caffeine effects were composed of 1st phase-potentiation (cyclic AMP increase?), 2nd phase-inhibition (n-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) closely related), and the increase of 3rd phase (Ca2+ release from salcoplasmic reticulum). d-Tubocurarine showed much higher potency for the inhibition of the 2nd phase than for that of the 1st phase. These results suggest that the 1st phase Ca2+ transients are related to T-type n-AChR channel, whereas the 2nd phase Ca2+ transients are related to S-type n-AChR channel and its mediated signal transduction.
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PMID:[Intracellular calcium ion mobilization and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor-mediated signal transduction in neuro-skeletal muscle synapse]. 219 1

Fourteen Jewish patients from 10 families of either Iraqi or Iranian origin with congenital myasthenia had associated facial malformations which included an elongated face, mandibular prognathism with class III malocclusion and a high-arched palate. Other common features were muscle weakness restricted predominantly to ptosis, weakness of facial and masticatory muscles, and fatigable speech; mild and nonprogressive course; response to cholinesterase inhibitors; absence of antibodies to acetylcholine receptor; decremental response on repetitive stimulation at 3 Hz but no repetitive compound muscle action potential in response to a single nerve stimulus. This newly recognized form of congenital myasthenia with distinctive ethnic clustering and associated facial malformations is transmitted as an autosomal recessive disorder. The facial abnormalities may be secondary to the neuromuscular defect or may be primary and unrelated. Further studies are needed to elucidate the defect in neuromuscular transmission responsible for the pathogenesis of this syndrome.
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PMID:Congenital myasthenia associated with facial malformations in Iraqi and Iranian Jews. A new genetic syndrome. 224 97

The actions of the carbamate cholinesterase inhibitors, physostigmine (Phy) and physostigmine methiodide (MetPhy), were studied on the acetylcholine receptor-ion channel complex (AChR) of skeletal muscles. Low concentrations of these agents produced cholinesterase inhibition which resulted in potentiation of nerve-elicited muscle twitches and an increased peak amplitude and prolongation of the decay time constant (tau EPC) of endplate currents (EPCs) elicited in frog (Rana pipiens) sartorius muscles. However, increasing concentrations of Phy depressed the peak amplitude and shortened the decay phase of the EPC with an apparent loss in the voltage dependence of tau EPC. At higher concentrations and depolarized potentials, EPC decays were double exponential. The effects of both Phy and MetPhy on the postsynaptic AChR complex were also evident in preparations pretreated with diisopropylfluorophosphate. Under these conditions, a linear relationship between the reciprocal of tau EPC and the concentration of these agents was observed. Single channel studies revealed that Phy (20-600 microM) shortened channel lifetime and decreased channel conductance at very high concentrations. In addition, Phy (0.5 microM) induced the appearance of channel openings with conductance similar to that of acetylcholine. High concentrations (greater than 50 microM) of this agent activated channel openings with decreased conductance. Similar results were obtained with MetPhy. Thus, the reversible cholinesterase inhibitors Phy and MetPhy altered the properties of the AChR by interacting as agonists capable of inducing desensitization and blockade.
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PMID:The reversible cholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine has channel-blocking and agonist effects on the acetylcholine receptor-ion channel complex. 241 99


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