Water intake and brain choline-acetyltransferase and acetylcholinesterase activites in manganese treated rats.

Choline-acetyltransferase activity was not affected in any of the brain regions studied on the first, third and eighth month of treatment with manganese chloride. Acetylcholinesterase activity diminished in the caudate nucleus only on the eighth month of intoxication but was not altered in any other region throughout the study. From the first month, the manganese-loaded rats ingested an amount of water significantly lower than controls.