Spontaneous synthesis of acetylcholine in the rat brain after beta adrenergic receptor blockade.

Spontaneous synthesis of acetylcholine in the rat brain after beta adrenergic receptor blockade. Acta Physiol. Pol., 1977, 28 (1): 31-38. The purpose of this work was to determine the effects of propranolol, oxprenolol and practolol on acetylcholine synthesis in the cerebral cortex and brain stem of rats in vitro and in vivo. Propranolol and oxprenolol inhibited acetylcholine synthesis in slices of cerebral cortex and brain stem in vitro but not in vivo. Practolol reduced the synthesis of acetylcholine in cortical neurons but was without effect on acetylcholine synthesis in brain stem neurons. The authors suppose that the inhibition of acetylcholine synthesis in vitro by the beta-adrenergic blocking agents used in this experiment was due to disturbances either in glycolysis or in the transport of sodium, potassium and calcium ions across cell membranes.