Putative significance of shifts in acetyl-CoA compartmentalization in nerve terminals for disturbances of cholinergic transmission in brain.

Acetylcholine and acetyl-CoA metabolism in nerve terminals isolated from rat brain were found to be affected by several neurotoxic and neuroprotective agents, such as aluminium, nitric oxide, beta-hydroxybutyrate, verapamil and thiamine deficiency. The changes evoked by these factors in Ca2+-dependent acetylcholine release were highly significantly correlated (r = 0.98) with changes in concentration of synaptoplasmic acetyl-CoA. On the other hand, in the same experimental conditions, no correlation was found between rates of pyruvate oxidation, intramitochondrial acetyl-CoA levels and different pools of releasable acetylcholine. These data indicate that disturbances in the availability of acetyl-CoA in the cytoplasm of nerve terminals may be a key factor in the pathogenesis of several cholinergic encephalopathies.