Local glucose utilization of the brain and pineal gland during stimulation of the cervical sympathetic trunk.

The quantitative autoradiographic 2-[14C]deoxyglucose method was employed to map the metabolic activity of the superior cervical ganglion and the entire brain during unilateral electrical stimulation of the cervical sympathetic trunk in the urethane-anesthetized rat. Stimulation of the cervical sympathetic trunk increased glucose utilization in the ipsilateral superior cervical ganglion (+95%) but did not produce side-to-side differences in glucose utilization in any of the brain structures examined in this study. Compared to the control nonstimulated animals, the rate of glucose metabolism in the pineal gland was increased 71% following stimulation of the cervical sympathetic trunk. The pineal gland was the only brain region out of 87 structures examined in which glucose utilization was increased by electrical stimulation of its sympathetic innervation.