GM1 ganglioside facilitates the recovery of high-affinity choline uptake in the cerebral cortex of rats with a lesion of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis.

The effect of repeated administrations of GM1 monosialoganglioside on high-affinity choline uptake (HACU) was investigated in the cerebral cortex of rats with a unilateral electrolytic lesion of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis. In saline-treated rats, 4 days after lesion, a 38% and 14% decrease in HACU-activity was found in the ipsilateral frontal and parietal cortex, respectively. A spontaneous recovery of HACU activity occurred within the next 20 days. In rats receiving daily injections of GM1 from the day of operation, no significant decrease in HACU activity was found in the lesioned hemisphere 4 days after the lesion. In contrast a 25% increase in HACU activity in the frontal area of the opposite hemisphere was detected. No effect of GM1 treatment could be seen on days 10 or 20 after lesion. The possibility that GM1 may exert its stimulatory effect on HACU independently of the well-known effect of gangliosides on neuronal sprouting is discussed.