Effect of vanadate on (Na+-K+)-stimulated ATPase activity in the brain of rats of different ages.

Experiments were carried out on infant rats aged five days and on adult rats (of both sexes) to investigate vanadate inhibition of (Na+-K+)ATPase activity in various parts of the brain. Vanadate was administered in 10(-5), 10(-7), 10(-8), 10(-9) and 10(-10) mol/l concentration. The enzyme activity and the effect of vanadate were studied in the tissue of the cerebral cortex, subcortical formations and the medulla oblongata. It was demonstrated that an inhibitory effect of vanadate on ouabain-sensitive ATPase could be determined in the brain of very young rats, i.e. in the immature nervous tissue. It was further demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of vanadate (in low concentrations) was significantly more potent in the nervous tissue of adult rats than in the CNS tissue of 5-day-old animals. Lastly, attention is drawn to certain differences in the sensitivity of ouabain-sensitive ATPase to the action of vanadate indifferent parts of the CNS in both the given age groups.