Booj_1980_Acta.Radiol.Oncol_19_387

The content and intra-axonal transport of acetylcholine (ACh) and the cholinergic enzymes cholineacetyltransferase (CAT) and ACh-esterase (AChE) in sciatic nerve were investigated in rats following single dose proton irradiation of the lumbar intumescence of the spinal cord with 60 Gy or 200 Gy. One, 7 or 30 days after irradiation nerve-crush operations were performed 12 hours before killing and the levels of ACh and enzyme activities in nerve segments relative to the crushes were estimated by biologic (ACh) or chemical (enzyme) methods. The results indicate that alterations in intraneuronal dynamics of ACh and related enzymes are not a major cause for the development of neurologic symptoms of the motor system after irradiation, and that descending myelinated axons are of minor importance for the regulation of cholinergic substances in rat motor nerves.