The effects of hypovolemic hypotension on high-energy phosphate metabolism of traumatized brain in rats.

To clarify the effect of hypovolemic hypotension on high-energy phosphate metabolism in head injury, sequential changes in in vivo phosphorus-31 magnetic resonance (31P MR) spectra were compared in 35 rats after impact injury with and without hypotension. Fourteen rats were subjected to hypotension alone (mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) of either 40 or 30 mm Hg for 60 minutes), seven to fluid-percussion impact injury (4 to 5 atm) alone, and 14 to impact injury and hypotension (MABP of 40 to 30 mm Hg). Impact injury alone caused a transient decrease in the phosphocreatine (PCr) level and an increase in the inorganic phosphate (Pi) value. While hypotension alone produced only small changes on 31P MR spectra, impact injury plus hypotension caused pronounced changes. Impact injury and an MABP of 40 mm Hg caused a 50% decrease in PCr concentration and an approximately twofold increase in Pi level, which were significantly greater than values in rats with impact injury alone. Impact injury and an MABP of 30 mm Hg also caused a significant decrease in adenosine triphosphate value, which was not observed in rats with impact injury alone or with an MABP of 30 mm Hg alone. Decreases in intracellular pH were greater in rats with impact injury and hypotension. After traumatic injury, the brain is extremely vulnerable to hypovolemic hypotension, as reflected in the loss of high-energy phosphates in brain.