Kleinberger N, Yanai J
Brain Res. 1985 Sep;354(1):113-23. doi: 10.1016/0165-3806(85)90074-4.
Early exposure to phenobarbital (PhB) causes marked destruction of large neurons which are then forming both in the hippocampus and in the cerebellum. Such exposure to PhB also reduces the achievements of mice in hippocampus-related behaviors such as radial 8-arm maze performance. Experimental evidence suggests that these behaviors are partially mediated by cholinergic transmission. We studied the performance of mice, exposed to PhB prenatally or neonatally, in radial 8-arm maze. Both treatments caused significant impairments in the animals' performance in the maze. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and pseudocholinesterase (pChE) activities were studied in the hippocampus and cerebellum of mice who were exposed to PhB prenatally or neonatally. These enzymes are involved both in cholinergic transmission and in neuronal development. A significant decrease (13-16%, P less than 0.01) in hippocampal AChE specific activity was found between days 15 and 22 in animals exposed to PhB neonatally. The total hippocampal activity of AChE was also greatly reduced (25-39%, P less than 0.01) during that period as a result of both the reduction in specific activity and a reduction in hippocampal weight of the treated animals. These alterations were transient and were not detected in adulthood. No changes in hippocampal AChE or pChE activities were found in animals treated prenatally. Cerebellar AChE and pChE activities were not altered after prenatal nor after neonatal exposure to PhB. It is possible that the short-term effect of neonatal treatment on AChE specific activity might mediate the long-term impairments in hippocampus-related behaviors.
早期接触苯巴比妥（PhB）会导致海马体和小脑中正在形成的大型神经元显著受损。这种对PhB的接触还会降低小鼠在与海马体相关行为（如放射状8臂迷宫表现）中的成绩。实验证据表明，这些行为部分由胆碱能传递介导。我们研究了在胚胎期或新生期接触PhB的小鼠在放射状8臂迷宫中的表现。两种处理方式均导致动物在迷宫中的表现出现显著损伤。我们研究了在胚胎期或新生期接触PhB的小鼠海马体和小脑中的乙酰胆碱酯酶（AChE）和假性胆碱酯酶（pChE）活性。这些酶参与胆碱能传递和神经元发育。在新生期接触PhB的动物中，15至22日龄时海马体AChE比活性显著降低（13 - 16%，P < 0.01）。由于比活性降低以及处理组动物海马体重量减轻，在此期间海马体AChE的总活性也大幅降低（25 - 39%，P < 0.01）。这些改变是短暂的，成年期未检测到。胚胎期处理的动物海马体AChE或pChE活性未发现变化。新生期处理对AChE比活性的短期影响可能介导了与海马体相关行为的长期损伤。
