Effects of intravenous glycerol on cerebral blood flow and tissue metabolism in acute cerebral ischemia in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

The effects of antiedematous agent with intravenous 10% glycerol on cerebral blood flow (CBF) and metabolism were studied in acute cerebral ischemia experimentally induced by bilateral carotid artery occlusion in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). CBF was measured by the hydrogen clearance technique and brain tissue metabolites such as lactate, pyruvate and ATP in the ischemic brain frozen in situ were determined by the enzymatic method. In comparison with saline-infused SHR, the reduction of CBF in the thalamus following carotid occlusion was significantly small in the glycerol treated SHR. Supratentorial ATP concentration in the 3 hr-ischemic brain was reduced in both groups of rats, but its reduction was significantly smaller in the glycerol-infused group than the other. Lactate and lactate/pyruvate ratio tended to be less increased in the glycerol rats, indicating that ischemic metabolism was restrained by the treatment. The present results strongly suggest that intravenous glycerol is effective against acute cerebral ischemia from the view point of cerebral hemodynamic and metabolism.