[Extracellular purine catabolites and tissue nucleotides and purine catabolites during progression and recovery of ischemia].

During progression and recovery of ischemia, extracellular purine catabolites were measured and compared with purine catabolites and adenine nucleotide levels in the tissue. Ischemia was induced by bilateral occlusion of the common carotid arteries in gerbil. Extracellular purine catabolites were sampled by in vivo brain microdialysis technique, and tissue adenine nucleotides and purine catabolites were extracted from in situ frozen and lypholized brain tissue. These metabolites were measured with simple method of isoclatic condition by HPLC system. Ischemia depleted tissue ATP and ADP, whereas AMP and purine catabolites accumulated strikingly. In parallel, extracellular purine catabolites increased as consecutive degradation on the biochemical metabolic pathway in the same animal. Levels of tissue ATP and adenosine normalized in the recovery phase of ischemia immediately. However, extracellular purine catabolites during the recovery are much higher than those during the progression of ischemia. These data indicated extracellular high levels of purine catabolites during the ischemic insult, and especially adenosine as neuromodulator which may turn off spontaneous neuronal activity and exert antiepileptic effects during the recovery rather than the progression of ischemia.