Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Local Application of Drugs to Study Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Function in Mouse Brain Slices
Published on: October 29, 2012
Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the rat stomach: II. Alterations after vagotomy
H Nishikawa1, T Taniguchi, H Ninomiya
1Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.
Abstract:
Nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors were studied in the stomach of vagotomized rats, with ligand binding techniques, and with the concomitant measurement of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT). The maximum binding capacity (Bmax) of the high affinity sites of (-)-[3H]nicotine binding was significantly increased in all the regions of the stomach of subdiaphragmatically vagotomized animals while the values for the low affinity sites remained the same as those in sham-operated animals. On the other hand, [3H]quinuclidinyl benzilate binding to the stomach was unchanged after vagotomy. ChAT activity was significantly reduced in the vagotomized rats. These results suggest that surgical vagal denervation causes an increase in the density of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors presumably located on the parasympathetic ganglion cells. There is also a reduction of ChAT activity, probably due to a degenerative loss of preganglionic cholinergic neurons. Preganglionic denervation (decentralization) has little influence on the muscarinic receptors of postsynaptic effector organs.
Related Concept Videos
Cholinergic Receptors: Muscarinic
The subtypes M1, M3, and M5 couple with the Gq subunit and activate the phospholipase C (PLC) activity, mobilizing intracellular Ca2+. Activation...
Cholinergic Receptors: Nicotinic
There are two types of nicotinic receptors: neuromuscular (NM/NM/N1) and neuronal (NN/NN/N2). The two families differ based on their location and selectivity to...
Direct-Acting Cholinergic Agonists: Chemistry and Structure-Activity Relationship
The direct-acting...
Direct-Acting Cholinergic Agonists: Pharmacological Actions
Parasympathetic Signaling
The effects of...
Pathophysiology of Peptic Ulcer Disease: Injurious Factors
In the antrum region, G cells secrete the gastrin hormone that binds to gastrin-cholecystokinin-B (CCK2) receptors on parietal and enterochromaffin-like (ECL) cells in the fundic glands. Simultaneously, the vagus nerve releases acetylcholine, which binds to M3...

