Changes in butyryl cholinesterase activity in reactive glia

Abstract

Nonspecific cholinesterase (butyryl cholinesterase) activity is of considerable neurobiological interest because of the relative prevalence of activity of this enzyme in white matter and because of the histochemical localization of enzyme activity and in glia cells. Changes in butyryl cholinesterase activity were studied histochemically in experimental lesions in cat brains and in several human patients with neuropathological conditions. In normal brains, butyryl cholinesterase activity resides primarily in the oligo-dendroglia. Upon injury, oligodendroglia cells lose their activity rapidly, probably even before they lose their morphological identity. Astro-cytes in white matter normally show only minimal activity, which increases slightly in reactive astrocytes. Astrocytic activity differs from oligodendroglial activity in its sensitivity to butyryl cholinesterase inhibitors, both in normal and in reactive states.