Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptors on Human Lymphocytes in Patients with Meniere's Disease

To investigate patients with Meniere's disease and the association of cholinergic hyperreactivity, we performed muscarinic acetylcholine receptor assay using peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with Meniere's disease and non-dizzy, non-allergic control subjects. Cholinergic receptor maximal bindings (Bmax) and dissociation constants (Kd) were compared between the two groups, indicating the number and the affinities of the receptors, respectively. the receptor Bmax value in Meniere's patients during the remission state (108.6 ± 51.2 fmol/1 ± 106 lymphocytes) was higher than that in normal controls (45.8 ± 9.2 fmol/1 ± 106 lymphocytes) (p < 0.01). Furthermore, during an exacerbated state, Bmax was increased significantly (223.7 ± 90.2 fmol/1 ± 106 lymphocytes) compared to the remission state (p