Diisopropylfluorophosphate inhibits choline efflux from the perfused rat hemidiaphragm

Acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis by motor nerve terminals requires an adequate supply of its precursor, choline. The results reported here show that diisopropylfluorophosphate (DFP), an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor commonly used in ACh release studies, reduces the rate of endogenous choline efflux from the perfused rat hemidiaphragm. Perfusion of the isolated hemidiaphragm with 10 microM or 100 microM DFP reduced choline efflux by 39% and 69% respectively. DFP administration to rats (6 mg/kg) also lowered the in vitro release of choline by 33%. The rate of ACh release from hemidiaphragm preparations perfused with DFP was significantly lower than the rate of release from preparations perfused with physostigmine, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor which had no effect on choline efflux. The addition of choline (10-30 micron) to the perfusion medium restored the rate of ACh release from DFP-treated hemidiaphragms but did not further elevated ACh release from physostigmine-treated preparations. These results demonstrate that DFP inhibits choline efflux from the isolated hemidiaphragm and further suggest that, by limiting the availability of choline for ACh synthesis, DFP reduces the rate of ACh release.