Alterations in kinetic and thermotropic properties of cerebral membrane-bound acetylcholineesterase during thioacetamide-induced hepatic encephalopathy: Correlation with membrane lipid changes

Acetylcholinesterase (AchE) is an important peripheral membrane-bound enzyme, crucial for cholinergic neurotransmission. Changes in AchE activity, kinetic and thermotropic properties were studied in hepatic encephalopathy (HE) associated with acute liver failure induced experimentally by the administration of the hepatotoxin thioacetamide (TAA). Activity of AchE decreased significantly following TAA administration. AchE from cerebral cortex membrane isolates of TAA-treated rats also showed a decrease in Vmax and an increase in Km. Arrhenius plots revealed considerable changes in the thermotropic behavior of AchE from membrane isolates obtained from TAA-treated rats as evident from the decreased transition temperature. A positive correlation was observed between changes in membrane cholesterol (r2 = 0.987), sphingomyelin (r2 = 0.99) levels and AchE activity, thus indicating that membrane lipid changes could underlie the observed changes in kinetic and thermotropic properties of membrane-bound AchE during TAA-induced HE.