The effects of ischemia and CDPamines on Na+, K+-ATPase and acetylcholinesterase activities in rat brain.

Cerebral ischemia produced a decrease in Na+, K+-ATPase activity in striatum and cortex; acetylcholinesterase activity was not affected in either region. Pretreatment of the animals with CDPcholine and CDPethanolamine did not prevent the decline in ATPase activity, suggesting that the accumulation of free fatty acids associated with ischemia is not responsible for these changes. Addition of exogenous diacylglycerols to the ATPase assay mixture produced an inhibition of the enzyme similar in magnitude to that observed in tissue samples from ischemic brain. These results support our hypothesis that the local accumulation of diacylglycerols following ischemia is involved in the observed changes in enzymatic activity.