Neurosci Lett. 1989 Dec 15.
Acetyl-L-carnitine enhances acetylcholine release in the striatum and hippocampus of awake freely moving rats.
Imperato A, Ramacci MT, Angelucci L.
Institute of Medical Pharmacology, University La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.

The effect of acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) on the spontaneous release of acetylcholine (ACh) in the striatum and hippocampus of freely moving rats was investigated using brain microdialysis coupled with HPLC-electrochemical detection. Systemic administration of ALC, in a dose-dependent manner, stimulated ACh release in both areas, while the D-enantiomer was substantially ineffective. The effect of ALC was strongly Ca2+ dependent and tetrodotoxin (TTX) sensitive. These features of an exocytotic and impulse flow-dependent mechanism suggest that the increase in ACh release is the result of ALC activation of a physiological mechanism in cholinergic neurons.

Categories: 1989, Carnitine, Acetyl-l-carnitine, Acetylcholine, Cholinergic, Neurological, Striatum, Hippocampus