Cholecystokinin protects cholinergic neurons against basal forebrain lesion.

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients have a severe degeneration of cholinergic neurons in their cerebral cortices. Basal forebrain (BF)-lesioned rat is used as a model animal of a cholinergic deficit in the cerebral cortex. Cholinergic markers were decreased in the cerebral cortex of BF-lesioned rats. Intracerebroventricular continuous infusion of cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK8) following BF lesion obviously preserved these cholinergic markers. These results suggest that CCK8 prevents the degeneration of cholinergic neurons in the cerebral cortex following BF lesion.