Electrophysiological Evidence for the Modulation of Acetylcholine Release by Endogenous Acetylcholine in the Cockroach Central Nervous System

Biochemical studies of the central nervous system (CNS) of locusts (Breer and Knipper, 1984; Knipper and Breer, 1988) have provided evidence for a muscarinic negative feedback mechanism in which muscarinic antagonists and agonists, respectively, enhance and decrease the acetylcholine (ACh) output. More recently, this inhibitory action of presynaptic muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChrs) has been demonstrated in cockroach (Hue et al. 1989; Le Corronc et al. 1991) and in tobacco hornworm (Trimmer and Weeks, 1989) using electrophysiological methods. However, in insects, most experiments have not been performed under physiological conditions but in the presence of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors or exogenous agonists. The aim of this study was to determine whether the release of ACh at a central synapse in the cockroach, Periplaneta americana, could be modulated by endogenous ACh acting on presynaptic muscarinic receptors.