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Donepezil inhibits neuromuscular junctional acetylcholinesterase and enhances synaptic transmission and function in isolated skeletal muscle
Author(s) -
Redman Robert R.,
Mackenzie Harry,
Dissanayake Kosala N.,
Eddleston Michael,
Ribchester Richard R.
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
british journal of pharmacology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.432
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1476-5381
pISSN - 0007-1188
DOI - 10.1111/bph.15940
Subject(s) - donepezil , acetylcholinesterase , neuromuscular transmission , neuromuscular junction , postsynaptic potential , acetylcholine , neurotransmission , tetanic stimulation , synaptic cleft , stimulation , acetylcholinesterase inhibitor , acetylcholine receptor , chemistry , cholinesterase , anesthesia , synapse , medicine , pharmacology , endocrinology , neuroscience , biology , receptor , biochemistry , dementia , disease , enzyme
Background and Purpose Donepezil, a piperidine inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) prescribed for treatment of Alzheimer's disease, has adverse neuromuscular effects in humans, including requirement for higher concentrations of non‐depolarising neuromuscular blockers during surgery. Here, we examined the effects of donepezil on synaptic transmission at neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) in isolated nerve‐muscle preparations from mice. Experimental Approach We measured effects of therapeutic concentrations of donepezil (10 nM to 1 μM) on AChE enzymic activity, muscle force responses to repetitive stimulation, and spontaneous and evoked endplate potentials (EPPs) recorded intracellularly from flexor digitorum brevis muscles from CD01 or C57BlWld S mice. Key Results Donepezil inhibited muscle AChE with an approximate IC 50 of 30 nM. Tetanic stimulation in sub‐micromolar concentrations of donepezil prolonged post‐tetanic muscle contractions. Preliminary Fluo4‐imaging indicated an association of these contractions with an increase and slow decay of intracellular Ca 2+ transients at motor endplates. Donepezil prolonged spontaneous miniature EPP (MEPP) decay time constants by about 65% and extended evoked EPP duration almost threefold. The mean frequency of spontaneous MEPPs was unaffected but the incidence of ‘giant’ MEPPs (gMEPPs), some exceeding 10 mV in amplitude, was increased. Neither mean MEPP amplitude (excluding gMEPPs), mean EPP amplitude, quantal content or synaptic depression during repetitive stimulation were significantly altered by concentrations of donepezil up to 1 μM. Conclusion and Implications Adverse neuromuscular signs associated with donepezil therapy, including relative insensitivity to neuromuscular blockers, are probably due to inhibition of AChE at NMJs, prolonging the action of ACh on postsynaptic nicotinic acetylcholine receptors but without substantively impairing evoked ACh release.