Distribution of choline acetyltransferase, acetylcholinesterase, muscarinic receptor binding, and choline uptake in discrete areas of the rat medulla oblongata.

Quantitative measurements were made of choline acetyltransferase (CAT) activity, acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity and cholinergic muscarinic receptor binding ([3H]QNB) in eight areas of a cross-section of the rat medulla oblongata. A fourth cholinergic parameter, high-affinity choline uptake, was measured in three groups of these areas. CAT, AChE and [3H]QNB binding were found to be highest in the hypoglossal nucleus and the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus; the lowest value was in the area which contains the inferior olive and the corticospinal tract. The distribution of AChE and CAT activities varied approximately 7- to 10-fold among the eight regions examined, whereas that of the muscarinic receptor varied only about 4-fold. The Na+-dependent high-affinity choline uptake varied approximately 20-fold from the region with the lowest activity (inferior olivary nucleus and corticospinal tract) to that with the highest activity (tissue areas containing the dorsal motor nucleus, hypoglossal nucleus of the solitary tract and nucleus cuneatus). The four cholinergic parameters are statistically correlated throughout all the areas of the medulla which were studied.