Does PB Produce NMJ Changes?
Nerves signal to muscles using ACh at the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), and this signaling causes the muscles to contract. Administration of high doses of AChE-inhibiting drugs, such as PB, has been shown in animals to produce destructive changes to the muscle tissue and to produce pre- and postsynaptic changes in the NMJ that is, changes that occur both at the side of the signal-sending nerve cell and at the side of the signal-receiving muscle cell. These changes begin after a single dose of PB. Though some destructive effects begin to recede even if use of PB is continued, partially restoring the appearance of the muscle and of the NMJ, this restoration has not been complete in all cases, even long after administration of PB has been stopped. Thus, chronic and perhaps permanent changes take place. Findings at the NMJ are important for two reasons. First, some of the symptoms reported by PGW veterans include musculoskeletal problems and fatigue, to which the effects of PB at the NMJ m
