Key Laboratory of Neuropharmacology and Translational Medicine of Zhejiang Province, College of Pharmaceutical Science, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China.
Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Molecules. 2021 Apr 13;26(8):2258. doi: 10.3390/molecules26082258.
Epilepsy is a common brain disorder characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures with neuronal hyperexcitability. Apart from the classical imbalance between excitatory glutamatergic transmission and inhibitory γ-aminobutyric acidergic transmission, cumulative evidence suggest that cholinergic signaling is crucially involved in the modulation of neural excitability and epilepsy. In this review, we briefly describe the distribution of cholinergic neurons, muscarinic, and nicotinic receptors in the central nervous system and their relationship with neural excitability. Then, we summarize the findings from experimental and clinical research on the role of cholinergic signaling in epilepsy. Furthermore, we provide some perspectives on future investigation to reveal the precise role of the cholinergic system in epilepsy.
癫痫是一种常见的脑部疾病，其特征是神经元过度兴奋导致反复发作的癫痫发作。除了兴奋性谷氨酸能传递和抑制性γ-氨基丁酸能传递之间的经典失衡外，越来越多的证据表明，胆碱能信号在调节神经兴奋性和癫痫方面起着至关重要的作用。在这篇综述中，我们简要描述了中枢神经系统中胆碱能神经元、毒蕈碱和烟碱受体的分布及其与神经兴奋性的关系。然后，我们总结了实验和临床研究中关于胆碱能信号在癫痫中的作用的发现。此外，我们还对未来的研究提供了一些观点，以揭示胆碱能系统在癫痫中的精确作用。
