On the distributive pattern of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) in the medulla oblongata of the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus). A study on the topographical and functional linkages of the two enzymes.

Abstract

Histochemical study on the distributive patterns of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), amongst the constituents of the medulla oblongata of golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus), viewed through the angle of the possible topographical and functional linkage of the two enzymes, have provided identical set-ups of AChE and BChE in many of the nuclei, fibers and tracts. In the case of AChE in many instances the results further point out that there is a balance of the enzymatic activity between the nuclei and the associated processes. On the other hand, in relation to BChE activity, the nuclei and their processes do not seem to be linked through such a histochemical factor. A detailed discussion on the significance of AChE relationship between the neurons and their processes from the functional point of view, against the data available in the literature, has been incorporated in the present study. Histoenzymologically, the ranges of the activities of AChE and BChE amongst the neurons and their processes are so closely related that such components are mirror images of each other in histochemical patterns. Naturally, such results have led to a detailed discussion in the contribution culminating in a proposition that AChE and BChE (amongst the locales studied) seems to be intimately linked in the neuro-physiological functioning undergoing in the regions of the medulla oblongata of golden hamster.