[Analysis of acetylcholine turnover in small brain areas in the rat with a two-compartment model]

A two-compartment model was used to calculate the turnover of acetylcholine in the Tuberculum olfactorium and the Nucleus accumbens septi. Radioactivity of [3H]-acetylcholine and [3H]-choline was measured in the areas after pulse injection of [3H]-choline. Acetylcholine and choline were determined radioenzymatically. The time dependence of specific activity of both choline and acetylcholine pools was calculated with an exponential polynomial function on a 9825A desk computer (Hewlett Packard). From the parameters of these functions a compartment analysis was performed. It was possible to determine the acetylcholine turnover exactly only if the analysis was perfomed from the acetylcholine pool (compartment B). The data of our model are discussed in relation to the literature.