The sulphonylureas tolbutamide and glibenclamide were shown to stimulate acetylcholine release from rat striatal slices. To determine the mechanism of this effect, whole-cell patch-clamp recordings were made from large neurones within the striatum that displayed morphological, electrophysiological, and pharmacological characteristics typical of cholinergic interneurones. Dialysis of these neurones with a pipette solution containing low concentrations of ATP produced a gradual hyperpolarisation that could be reversed by bath application of the sulphonylureas. In voltage-clamp studies, these compounds were shown to act through the inhibition of a potassium conductance. It is concluded that cholinergic interneurones within the rat striatum express sulphonylurea-sensitive ATP-sensitive potassium channel activity. These channels are probably cytoprotective and may prove to be novel sites of therapeutic modulation.
        
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Lee K, Brownhill V, Richardson PJ (1997) Antidiabetic sulphonylureas stimulate acetylcholine release from striatal cholinergic interneurones through inhibition of K(ATP) channel activity Journal of Neurochemistry69: 1774-6
Lee K, Brownhill V, Richardson PJ (1997) Journal of Neurochemistry69: 1774-6