Date of Award

Summer 1985

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biological Sciences

Program/Concentration

Biology

Committee Director

Keith A. Carson

Committee Member

Jacob F. Maver

Committee Member

Margaret L. Till

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.B46 B64

Abstract

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity in the neonatal rat brain was determined by histochemical localization and quantitative biochemical analysis. AChE-positive perikarya were concentrated in the neostriatum, globus pallidus, medial habenular nucleus, amygdaloid complex, various hypothalamic nuclei, gigantocellular and paragigantocellular reticular nuclei, raphe nuclei, locus coeruleus, and motor nuclei of cranial nerves III-VII and IX-XII. Some areas stained differently or not at all when compared with the adult rat brain. The effects of prenatal ethanol exposure on regional AChE activity were assessed by comparing enzyme levels in offspring exposed via maternal consumption of a liquid diet containing 35 percent ethanol derived calories. This treatment resulted in a significant increase in AChE activity in the hippocampus and the hypothalamus as measured by biochemical assay. These differences were not observed by histochemistry, probably due to a lack of technique sensitivity for demonstrating small changes in AChE levels.

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DOI

10.25777/rq1r-5h22

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