Spinal cord acetylcholine content: the consequence of transection or treatment with the neurotoxin 6-aminonicotinamide.

The distribution of choline (Ch) and acetylcholine (ACh) within the rat spinal cord was found to be rather uniform with values for Ch of about 280 pmol/mg protein and for ACh of about 250 pmol/mg protein. Cord transection at the T10-11 level did not reduce ACh below the lesion but there was about a 30% decrease of ACh in the thoracic region suggesting the presence of cholinergic fibers that ascend and terminate within the cord. Treatment of rats with the neurotoxin 6-aminonicotinamide resulted in spastic hindlimb paralysis and a loss of ACh in the lumbar region of the cord.