Cat heart acetylcholine: structural proof and distribution

The distribution of acetylcholine (ACh) in the cat heart was investigated by a pyrolysis-gas chromatography (PGC) method. The hearts were dissected into various regions and homogenized in acetonitrile in the presence of propionylcholine, internal standard. Following extraction with toluene and hexane, the choline esters were precipitated as the enneaiodide complex. The isolated choline esters were analyzed by PGC, and the peak corresponding to ACh was quantified. The compound extracted from heart tissue that eluted with the retention time of authentic ACh was identified by mass spectrometry as dimethylaminoethylacetate, the pyrolysis product of ACh. ACh concentrations were found to be higher in the atria than the ventricles. In both the atria and the ventricles, a higher content of ACh was found in the right than the left portions: right ventricle, 5.0 compared to left ventricle, 2.0 nmol/g; and right atrium, 16.8 compared to left atrium, 11.3 nmol/g. Some cats were subjected to a bilateral cervical vagotomy 3 wk before removal and analysis of heart tissue. Hearts from vagotomized cats contained less ACh than controls in the right ventricle (-31%), right atrium (-54%), SA node (-42%), and papillary muscle (-53%), but no decreases were found in the left ventricle, left atrium, or interventricular septum.