INHIBITION OF BRAIN DEHYDROGENASES BY ‘ANTICHOLINESTERASES’

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Abstract
The dehydrogenase activity of brain and nerve was studied with the methylene blue technique. Relative activities with oxaloa-cetate, succinate, glutamate, malate, citrate, lactate, glucose, pyruvate, alpha-ketoglutarate, fumarate and maleate are presented. Age had little influence on brain dehydrogenases; freezing decreased activity to about 20%. Nerve was about 10% as active as brain. The "anticholinesterase" drugs, diisopropyl-fluorophosphate, tetraethylpyrophosphate, and eserine sulfate are inhibitors of brain and nerve dehydrogenases, the 2 former being in general even more powerful than the "metabolic inhibitor" methylfluoroacetate. Dehydrogenase inhibition was specific in pattern for each drug; even at 10-4 [image] drug concn. the oxidation of particular substrates might be inhibited by 10-25%.