Acetylcholine
From Drug Rehab Wiki
Acetylcholine is an important neurotransmitter which helps transmit nerve impulses to muscle cells, signaling them to contract. Acetylcholine responds to nicotine and is involved in addiction to tobacco. Too little acetylcholine is probably what causes Alzheimer's disease, and chemical imbalances of acetylcholine result in Parkinson's disease and affect multiple sclerosis. Acetylcholine probably plays a role major role in bipolar disease and the mood states of depression and mania. Many scientists today are doing research on the chemical because of its links to addiction, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, and depression.
Acetylcholine is a stimulatory neurotransmitter, which means neurons containing it are attached to muscle cells, and stimulate their contractions. Acetylcholine, synthesized from choline and actyl coenzyme A, is stored in sacs in nerve cell membranes. When a nerve cell becomes activated, its sacs open up and release acetylcholine into the gap between it and the next cell. In order for the nerve signal to continue, acetylcholine must be received and put into "receptor" cells especially shaped for this chemical. There are two kinds of acetylcholine receptors: nicotinic and muscarinic. Nicotinic receptors respond to nicotine as well as acetylcholine. Muscarinic receptors are located at the synapses or gaps of nerves with smooth or cardiac muscle cells, and the release of acetylcholine triggers muscle contractions.
The many cholinergic pathways in regions of the brain that involve the transmission of acetylcholine are important to memory and learning. Research indicates that abnormalities in acetylcholine function is at the basis of Alzheimer's disease. In 1906, a German scientist named Alois Alzheimer performed the first autopsy on the brain of a person who died from old age dementia. Dr. Alzheimer found that the patient's acetylcholine pathways were severely damaged in what he called "tangles," and that the patient's brain had an excess of plaque as well. It is believed that a virus, metal toxins, and genetic factors cause Alzheimer's disease, which results in such brain damage. Today Alzheimer's patients can take three kinds of cholinesterase inhibitors that affect neurotransmission in the brain, and may slow the progression of this deadly disease.
Drugs such as Tolerodine, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), and cannabinoids also modify the way acetylcholine works in the body, and are used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis.
Acetylcholine is made from choline, which can be in the form of a nutrient. The hope is that by adding more choline to the diet, a person could enhance his memory and learning functions, and reduce his risk for Alzheimer's disease, but so far this has not been proven.
