Nordgren_1987_Pharmacol.Toxicol_60_258

Diazepam has previously been shown to affect the acetylcholine synthesizing system in mouse brain. This paper reports studies on the effect of diazepam on muscarinic receptor density and on pharmacological effects of oxotremorine. The receptor density was studied using a new technique that allows such studies to be performed in vivo under physiological conditions. The method is based on the fact that L-hyoscyamine, the active antipode of atropine, binds specifically to muscarinic receptors in the brain, and can be measured with high sensitivity by gas chromatography--mass spectrometry. Diazepam was found to modify the binding properties of muscarinic receptors in CNS, thereby decreasing the functional receptor pool. It also prevented tremor induced by the muscarinic agonist oxotremorine. Diazepam could however not prevent the hypothermia induced, but rather accentuated this effect of oxotremorine. It is concluded that diazepam, directly or indirectly, influences the effect of cholinergic stimulators by modulating the size of the muscarinic receptor pool.