Table 2 The EC50 for acetylcholine concentration-response curve in the absence and in the presence of 100 μM AEME (data represent the mean of three independent experiments, each one performed in duplicate).

From: M1 and M3 muscarinic receptors may play a role in the neurotoxicity of anhydroecgonine methyl ester, a cocaine pyrolysis product

mAChR subtype

EC50 in nM (mean ± SEM)

ACh–DMSO control

ACh concentration-response curve + 100 μM AEME

Rat M 1

11.5 ± 0.6

63.1 ± 2.5***

Rat M 2

123.0 ± 9.8

263.0 ± 21.0*

Rat M 3

6.5 ± 0.4

34.7 ± 2.8**

Rat M 4

166.0 ± 14.9

524.8 ± 47.2*

Rat M 5

4.3 ± 0.4

29.5 ± 3.0**

  1. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 and ***p < 0.001, compared with ACh concentration-response curve alone for each mAChR subtype. mAChR: muscarinic acetylcholine receptor, DMSO: dimethyl sulfoxide, ACh: acetylcholine.
  2. Results are presented as mean ± SEM in nM.
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