Effects of hypoxia on rat brain metabolism: unilateral in vivo carotid infusion.

An in vivo brain perfusion technique was used to examine effects of hypoxia on cerebral cortical metabolism in barbiturate-anesthetized rats. Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered solution (PBS), or Dulbecco's PBS + 6 mM glucose, was infused into the right carotid circulation for 0 to 3 min, at a rate that reduced regional cerebral blood flow to the ipsilateral parietal lobe by more than 40% and O2 delivery by about 50%. The duration of infusion of either solution was correlated negatively with the ipsilateral parietal lobe concentrations of glucose, ATP, and phosphocreatine (PCr), and positively with parietal concentrations of lactate and cAMP. cGMP increased in relation to infusion duration of Dulbecco's PBS. Statistically significant elevations of brain lactate occurred after 1 min of infusion of Dulbecco's PBS; lactate was elevated and glucose was reduced after 2 min of infusion of either solution. Brain ATP, PCr, and glycogen concentrations decreased in relation to the elevation in brain lactate, and the [PCr]:[ATP] ratio declined. The results demonstrated that limited hypoxia stimulated cerebral glycolysis and produced a concurrent decrease in brain ATP and PCr. However, ATP was spared to a degree, at the expense of PCr.