One of the main objectives of many of the members at this forum is to increase the synthesis and hence the release of acetylcholine (ACh) from axonal terminals in the brain. ACh is implicated in learning and memory, and is the key neurotransmitter that is depleted in pathological memory diseases, like Alzheimer's disease.
At this forum, I notice that the most common approach to increasing brain levels of ACh is to ingest a ACh precursor, such as choline bitrate (or choline chlorine, choline citrate, etc). This is probably the most effective means of increasing ACh synthesis, since free choline in the blood plasma readily crosses the blood-brain barrier. Once in the brain's extracellular space, choline is then taken up by cholinergic nerve terminals by a high affinity choline uptake (HACU) system where it can combine with acetyl CoA to produce ACh. As can be seen, one of the rate-limiting factors in the synthesis of ACh is the rate at which this uptake of ACh occurs. Thus, if each member at this forum wants to increase ACh synthesis, one way to do it would be to increase the activity of the HACU system, which is sodium- and energy-dependent.
Since the HACU system is sodium- and energy dependent, I thought of supplements that could increase neuronal energy and facilitate the action of the sodium-potassium pumps that maintain the correct ion segregation across the neuronal membrane. Sure there are various metabolic enhancers that may increase neuronal energy, e.g. CoQ10, but what about (specifically) the Na-K pumps? There are a number of studies indicating that CDP-Choline can restore and enhance Na-K-ATPase activity. Does anyone have any further information concerning the effect of CDP-Choline on the Na-K pumps?
