Fluorinated Tropinyl Esters for Application with Pet

Muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (MAR) are widely distributed throughout the central nervous system (CNS), the cardiovascular, and the gastrointestinal system, and regulate numerous important physiological functions.1 In the central nervous system (CNS), the majority of cholinergic synapses are muscarinic, and the activation of MAR by acetylcholine appears to play a role in neural mechanisms underlying memory, learning, arousal and the control of movement.2 Deficits in the cholinergic system have been implicated in memory disfunction associated with normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease.3 While studies concerning the number and functional status of MAR in normal aging is equivocal,4 MAR density is decreased in Alzheimer’s disease,5 Parkinson’s disease and Huntington disease. Delineation of muscarinic receptor subtypes on the basis of structure, pharmacology and anatomical location has further suggested that muscarinic receptor subtypes may be differentially affected.5,6 Alterations in MAR also have been noted to occur as a consequence of exposure to various pharmacologically active compounds including muscarinic agonists7 and antagonists,8 organophosphates9 and other acetylcholinesterase inhibitors,10 barbiturates,11 ethanol12 and antidepressants.13