| autonomic fibres, postganglionic | Nerve fibres which project from cell bodies of autonomic ganglia to synapses on target organs. (12 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| parasympathetic fibres, postganglionic | Nerve fibres which project from parasympathetic ganglia to synapses on target organs. Parasympathetic postganglionic fibres use acetylcholine as transmitter. They may also release peptide cotransmitters. (12 Dec 1998) |
| postganglionic | Distal to or beyond a ganglion; referring to the unmyelinated nerve fibres originating from cells in an autonomic ganglion. (05 Mar 2000) |
| postganglionic fibres | A fibre whose cell body is located in an autonomic (motor) ganglion and whose peripheral process will terminate on smooth muscle, cardiac muscle, or glandular epithelium; associated with sympathetic or parasympathetic parts of the autonomic nervous system. (05 Mar 2000) |
| postganglionic motor neuron | See: motor neuron. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sympathetic fibres, postganglionic | Nerve fibres which project from sympathetic ganglia to synapses on target organs. Sympathetic postganglionic fibres use norepinephrine as transmitter, except for those innervating eccrine sweat glands (and possibly some blood vessels) which use acetylcholine. They may also release peptide cotransmitters. (12 Dec 1998) |
| receptors, cholinergic | Cell surface proteins that bind acetylcholine with high affinity and trigger intracellular changes influencing the behaviour of cells. Cholinergic receptors are divided into two major classes, muscarinic and nicotinic, based originally on their affinity for nicotine and muscarine. Each group is further subdivided based on pharmacology, location, mode of action, and/or molecular biology. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cholinergic | <pharmacology> Resembling acetylcholine in pharmacological action, stimulated by or releasing acetylcholine or a related compound. (15 Jan 1998) |
| cholinergic agent | An agent that mimics the action of the parasympathetic nervous system (e.g., methacholine). (05 Mar 2000) |
| cholinergic agents | Any drug used for its actions on cholinergic systems. Included here are agonists and antagonists, drugs that affect the life cycle of acetylcholine, and drugs that affect the survival of cholinergic neurons. The term cholinergic agents is sometimes still used in the narrower sense of muscarinic agonist, although most modern texts discourage that usage. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cholinergic agonists | Drugs that bind to and activate cholinergic receptors. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cholinergic antagonists | Drugs that bind to but do not activate cholinergic receptors, thereby blocking the actions of acetylcholine or cholinergic agonists. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cholinergic blockade | Inhibition by a drug of nerve impulse transmission at autonomic ganglionic synapses (ganglionic blockade), at postganglionic parasympathetic effector cells (e.g., by atropine), and at myoneural junctions (myoneural blockade), the inhibition of a cholinergic agent. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cholinergic fibres | Nerve fibres liberating acetylcholine at the synapse after an impulse. (12 Dec 1998) |
| cholinergic medication | <pharmacology> Medications which stimulate cholinergic receptors (for example bethanechol). (15 Jan 1998) |