Nordberg A, Larsson C, Perdahl E, Winblad B
Drug Alcohol Depend. 1982 Dec;10(4):333-44. doi: 10.1016/0376-8716(82)90035-7.
Evidence indicates that hippocampus and cholinergic mechanisms play a role in memory function. Animal studies have indicated an effect of prolonged ethanol treatment on cholinergic parameters. It is well known that chronic alcoholics often have a disturbed memory function. In this postmortem study the cholinergic activity in the hippocampus was studied in 20 chronic alcoholics and 14 controls. Of the alcoholics, 13 were classified as 'intoxicated alcoholics' and 7 as 'sober alcoholics', i.e., without ethanol in blood and urine at the time of death. To study both pre- and postsynaptic effects, the enzyme choline acetyltransferase (ChAT, presynaptic marker) as well as muscarine- and nicotine-like receptor binding sites were measured. There was a lower, although not significant, activity in ChAT in the hippocampus of the chronic alcoholics as compared to the controls. The lowest ChAT activity was found in the group of 'sober alcoholics', however it was not statistically significant. In the chronic alcoholics there was a trend towards lower numbers of muscarine-like binding sites reaching significance for the oldest group of alcoholics (59 - 68 years; -30%; p less than 0.01) in comparison to controls. The combination of the normal aging process with degenerative nerve cell changes and alcohol abuse might lead to the more pronounced decrease in muscarinic binding sites found for the older alcoholics.
有证据表明，海马体和胆碱能机制在记忆功能中发挥作用。动物研究表明，长期乙醇处理对胆碱能参数有影响。众所周知，慢性酗酒者的记忆功能常常受到干扰。在这项尸检研究中，对20名慢性酗酒者和14名对照者的海马体胆碱能活性进行了研究。在酗酒者中，13人被归类为“醉酒酗酒者”，7人被归类为“清醒酗酒者”，即死亡时血液和尿液中没有乙醇。为了研究突触前和突触后的影响，测量了胆碱乙酰转移酶（ChAT，突触前标记物）以及毒蕈碱样和烟碱样受体结合位点。与对照组相比，慢性酗酒者海马体中ChAT的活性较低，尽管不显著。“清醒酗酒者”组的ChAT活性最低，但无统计学意义。在慢性酗酒者中，毒蕈碱样结合位点数量有减少的趋势，与对照组相比，年龄最大的酗酒者组（59 - 68岁；-30%；p小于0.01）达到显著水平。正常衰老过程与神经细胞退行性变化和酒精滥用相结合，可能导致老年酗酒者毒蕈碱结合位点更明显的减少。
