RESUMO
Of the results obtained by numerous investigators in the study of the acetylcholine-acetylcholinesterase system, it is quite clear that it is altered significantly in the convulsive state. In the present work, a study of the acetylcholinesterase activity (AChE) in serum was made in 53 patients with different type of epilepsy during the intercritical period. A significantly high increase in the enzymatic activity (p less than 0.001) was found, compared with that of the controls, unrelated with the probable etiology of the process nor with some symptoms. We observed, nevertheless, a tendency towards diminished enzymatic activity with an increase of the severity of the electroencephalographic picture, and we interpreted this as a compensating effect. The AChE activity in serum and cerebrospinal fluid of a group of epileptic patients subjected to stereotaxic operations was studied before and after surgery, observing a significantly diminished activity of AChE in serum (p less than 0.001) after surgery. This asserts the hypothesis of the compensating increase of the AChE activity in serum, which tends to normalize once some of the factors producing the decompensation are eliminated.