[Mechanisms of selective vulnerability of cholinergic neurons to neurotoxic stimuli]

Preferential loss of cholinergic neurons in course of several encephalopathies may result from the fact that they utilize acetyl-CoA not only for energy production, but also for acetylcholine synthesis. Changes in activities of acetyl-CoA metabolizing enzymes and shifts in acetyl-CoA compartmentalization, found in different animal models of brain pathologies and in human post mortem brain, are discussed in therms of their impact on cholinergic system integrity.