Gastrocnemius acetylcholinesterase activity in response to burn trauma in the mouse

In this study we examined the effect of increasing size of body surface area (BSA, 20, 30 and 50 per cent) burn on distally located gastrocnemius acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. Burn injury was applied to predefined areas of the dorsal and ventral skin surfaces of mice. AChE activity at 3 weeks postburn was measured by differential extraction and velocity sedimentation on sucrose gradients. Analysis of variance was used for all statistical evaluation. Within the sham-treated controls most of the AChE activity consisted entirely (92 per cent) of the globular forms (S1 and S2). Asymmetric (S3 and S4) and non-extractable (H5) forms were 2 and 5 per cent, respectively. The total globular, asymmetric and non-extractable forms were not significantly different in gastrocnemius among the burn groups. However, individual forms (6.5S, 10S) of the soluble globular group (S1) were decreased (P less than 0.05) by half for all burn groups. Some molecular forms (4S, 10S) of residual globular group (S2) were decreased (P less than 0.05) in the 20 per cent and 50 per cent burn groups. In the asymmetric group (S3) the molecular forms (4S, 10S, 12S and 16S) were increased (P less than 0.001) for the 20 and 30 per cent groups. Within and between extraction groups interrelationships of the molecular forms were apparent. These data provide evidence that in response to burn trauma AChE activity of the gastrocnemius showed a decrease in soluble globular and an increase in asymmetric forms with multimeric dependence.