The molecular forms of acetylcholinesterase in cerebrospinal fluid of normal subjects--effect of aging.

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity is increased in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) during aging. The present study investigated whether the relative amounts of different molecular forms of CSF-AChE are also affected during aging. Thus, the CSF samples of healthy human subjects (age range 20-79 years, n = 23) were analyzed for sedimentation forms of AChE activity. Five different forms of AChe activity were detected in human CSF. The relative amount of tetrameric and dimeric globular forms, which are the main forms of AChE in CSF, were not related with age. Furthermore, the relative amount of monomeric globular and asymmetric forms which are minor forms of AChE in CSF did not seem to be related to age. Since total CSF-AChE activity is increased during aging, it seems to be due to the increased amounts of the tetrameric and dimeric forms of enzyme activity.