Development of NMR spectroscopic methods for dynamic detection of acetylcholine synthesis by choline acetyltransferase in hippocampal tissue.
Choline acetyltransferase (ChAT) is the key-enzyme for acetylcholine (ACh) synthesis and constitutes a reliable marker for the integrity of cholinergic neurons. Cortical ChAT activity is decreased in the brain of patients suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The standard method used to measure the activity of ChAT enzyme relies on a very sensitive radiometric assay but can only be