Deoxyglucose uptake in pathological conditions.

In case of quick physiological variations or in pathological conditions, it is impossible to measure the deoxyglucose consumption by means of the deoxyglucose technique and we propose a method for the study of the deoxyglucose uptake by the cerebral tissue. It is simultaneously measured with the blood flow, 3 min following the intravenous administration of deoxyglucose (2-deoxyglucose-14C). Hypercapnia induces an increase in the flow but does not modify the deoxyglucose uptake and moderate hypoxia results in a decrease in the deoxyglucose uptake without modifying the flow. In pathological conditions such as ischemia or stricture, the blood flow and deoxyglucose uptake variations are not parallel. These results show that the 2-deoxyglucose uptake does not follow the blood flow and that it depends on the cell activity. It is therefore possible to use this method when the consumption studies cannot be implemented.