Rabasseda X, Blasi J, Marsal J, Dunant Y, Casanova A, Bizzini B
Departament de Biologia Cellular i Anatomia Patològica, Hospital de Bellvitge, Universitat de Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
Toxicon. 1988;26(4):329-36. doi: 10.1016/0041-0101(88)90001-3.
Tetanus toxin, like botulinum toxin type A, blocks cholinergic synaptic transmission at the central and peripheral nervous systems. Nevertheless, the diseases induced by the two toxins are different since tetanus toxin induces a spastic paralysis and botulinum toxin elicits a flaccid paralysis. Thus, we have investigated the sensitivity of a central and a peripheral cholinergic synapse to these two toxins. We have studied the action of both poison on the release of acetylcholine from slices of the rat striatum and from the isolated electric organ of Torpedo, which is homologous to the neuromuscular junction. Acetylcholine release from the rat striatum was continuously monitored by a chemiluminescent method. The secretion of acetylcholine from the electric organ was estimated both by measuring the amplitude of the evoked electrical discharge from stacks of electroplaques, and by continuously monitoring the neurotransmitter release from isolated nerve terminals. Tetanus toxin blocks the electrical discharge of electric organ prisms, and also impairs the release of acetylcholine from the Torpedo electric organ nerve endings. Our results on acetylcholine release show that tetanus toxin is more potent than botulinum toxin type A at the central cholinergic synapse (tetanus/botulinum toxins potency ratio about 100-200) whereas botulinum toxin is the most potent at the peripheral cholinergic synapse (botulinum/tetanus toxins potency ratio about 100).
破伤风毒素与A型肉毒杆菌毒素一样，会阻断中枢和外周神经系统的胆碱能突触传递。然而，这两种毒素引发的疾病有所不同，因为破伤风毒素会导致痉挛性麻痹，而肉毒杆菌毒素会引发弛缓性麻痹。因此，我们研究了中枢和外周胆碱能突触对这两种毒素的敏感性。我们研究了这两种毒素对大鼠纹状体切片以及与神经肌肉接头同源的电鳐分离电器官中乙酰胆碱释放的作用。通过化学发光法持续监测大鼠纹状体中乙酰胆碱的释放。通过测量电板堆叠诱发放电的幅度以及持续监测分离神经末梢中神经递质的释放，来估算电器官中乙酰胆碱的分泌量。破伤风毒素会阻断电器官棱柱的放电，还会损害电鳐电器官神经末梢中乙酰胆碱的释放。我们关于乙酰胆碱释放的研究结果表明，在中枢胆碱能突触处，破伤风毒素比A型肉毒杆菌毒素更具效力（破伤风毒素/肉毒杆菌毒素效力比约为100 - 200），而在周围胆碱能突触处，肉毒杆菌毒素效力最强（肉毒杆菌毒素/破伤风毒素效力比约为100）。
