Bilateral injection of fasciculin into the amygdala of rats: effects on two avoidance tasks, acetylcholinesterase activity, and cholinergic muscarinic receptors.

These experiments examined the effects of the bilateral injection of fasciculin-2 (FAS), a natural acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitory peptide, into the amygdala of rats on acquisition and retention of two avoidance behaviors. Intraamygdala injection of FAS (150 ng/amygdala) produced a pronounced and long-lasting inhibition of AChE activity: 85% and 74% on day 2 and day 5, respectively. After 48 hr, FAS-treated animals showed no changes in training or test session performance in a step-down inhibitory avoidance task (training-test interval was 24 hr). In a 2-way shuttle avoidance task, intraamygdala FAS slightly reduced retention test performance without modifying training session scores. Two and five days after FAS injections into the amygdala, the density of muscarinic receptor decreased about 50% as measured by the specific bindings of 3H-quinuclidinyl benzilate and 3H-oxotremorine. No alterations were observed in the apparent dissociation constants. On the other hand, the central-type benzodiazepine receptor population of the amygdala remained unchanged, suggesting that FAS microinjection did not produce damage to neuronal components of these nuclei. In conclusion, the results presented have indicated that a clear-cut and long-lasting inhibition of AChE activity in the amygdala is not accompanied by a facilitation of learning and memory of two different avoidance tasks. Compensation of the increased cholinergic activity by a down-regulation of muscarinic receptors could account for these findings.