Does PB Alter Regulation of Neurotransmitters, Particularly ACh?
Cholinergic Dysregulation When ACh activity is artificially raised by administration of PB, it results in a host of compensatory changes, many of which act to reduce ACh activity. Changes in regulation of nerve signaling–occurring in response to excessive ACh activity–that result in reduced delivery of ACh or reduced response to ACh will be termed “downregulation.” (“Downregulation” is often used technically to refer to reduced production of receptors, but here it will be used to refer to any alteration in the system that produces low ACh activity–such as decreased production or release of ACh, reduced receptors or receptor-binding affinity or sensitivity, or increased breakdown of ACh.) More generally, regulation of ACh may be altered in ways that may not be exclusively downregulatory. For instance some elements of the system may experience abnormal heightened sensitivity to ACh. In the general case, there may be elements of the very complex ACh regulatory system that are downregul
