Maintenance of constant blood acetylcholine content before and after feeding in young chimpanzees

We have shown that acetylcholine (ACh) is present in the blood of various species of mammals using a specific, sensitive radioimmunoassay. In the present study, the effect on blood and plasma ACh levels of feeding after overnight fasting was studied in one male and five female 4- to 7-year-old chimpanzees. The mean basal ACh concentrations of the blood and plasma were 3143 +/- 380 and 184 +/- 10 pg/ml (+/-SEM, n = 6), respectively. Feeding each chimpanzee 500 g boiled sweet potatoes as breakfast at 1000 h and tap water given ad libitum did not affect the ACh content of the blood and plasma, and constant values of the blood and plasma ACh contents were observed for 4 h after the feeding. Hematocrit and plasma acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity were also insensitive to feeding. No correlation was observed between plasma AChE activity and either blood or plasma ACh content. The results of the present study indicate that the blood ACh of chimpanzees is distributed mainly in the blood cell fraction, and that the blood ACh content is not regulated directly by cholinergic nerve activity or by plasma AChE activity.