Graft-derived cholinergic reinnervation of the hippocampus prevents a lasting increase of hippocampal noradrenaline concentration induced by septohippocampal damage in rats.

Long-Evans female rats sustained aspirative lesions of the septohippocampal pathways and, 2 weeks later, received into the dorsal hippocampus grafts prepared from the septal area (rich in cholinergic neurons; Group Sep) or from the mesencephalic raphe (poor in cholinergic neurons; Group Rap) of rat fetuses. Lesion-only (Group Les) and virtually intact (Group Sham) rats served as controls. Between 9.5 and 10.5 months after grafting surgery, we found the lesions to decrease choline acetyltransferase activity (ChAT), high affinity synaptosomal uptake of [3H]choline (HACU) and serotonin concentration ([5-HT]), as well as to increase the noradrenaline concentration ([NA]) in the dorsal hippocampus. Raphe grafts increased [5-HT] to 456% of normal, but had only weak or no effects on the other lesion-induced modifications in brain neurochemistry. Septal grafts dramatically increased ChAT activity and HACU, enhanced [5-HT], and reduced [NA] to near-normal levels. We also found a significant negative correlation between HACU and [NA] in rats with lesions, whether grafted or not. These data show that grafts providing the denervated hippocampus with a new cholinergic innervation might be able to exert inhibitory effects on the lesion-induced increase of [NA]. Since such an increase is indicative of sympathetic sprouting, the finding of reduced [NA] in rats with graft-derived cholinergic reinnervation of the hippocampus is in line with the hypothesis that hippocampal cholinergic denervation plays a crucial role in the induction of sympathetic sprouting. However, our data do not allow to distinguish whether grafts rich in cholinergic neurons inhibited the sympathetic sprouting itself, or rather reduced the NA content of sprouted fibers.