Local cerebral glucose utilization in fetal and neonatal sheep.

The newborn mammalian brain of several species has been shown to have a lower average rate of energy metabolism and a narrower range of rates in its various components than is found in maturity. In a further study of cerebral energy metabolism during development, we have employed the [14C]deoxyglucose method for measuring local cerebral glucose utilization in fetal and neonatal sheep. After establishing the lumped constant to be 0.40 and finding the rate constants for the kinetic behavior of deoxyglucose in plasma and brain to be close to those in other species, we measured the rates of glucose utilization in 44 regions of the brain. The rates were low and homogeneous in midgestation, except for those of brain stem nuclei of the auditory and vestibular systems and those of the hippocampus which were relatively high. In the last 7 wk, local rates rose approximately threefold. After birth there was a further average increase of 50% above full-term levels. The study shows that cerebral energy metabolism rises in most structures during prenatal maturation, a time when sensory stimulation is at a relatively low level and behavioral responses are minimal.