EFFECT OF CENTRAL DEPRESSANT AGENTS ON CEREBRAL GLUCOSE 6-PHOSPHATE DEHYDROGENASE ACTIVITY OF RATS

UDP galactose:ceramide galactosyltransferase, CDP choline:1,2-diacyl-sn-glycerol phosphocholine transferase, and microsomal reductases in major regions of the developing rat brain in nutritional stress

The influence of nutritional inadequacy during the active growth phase of the developing brain, coinciding with myelinogenesis, was examined in rat pups. Developmental profiles of enzyme activities involved in biosynthesis of myelin membrane lipids, and those of associated pathways which generate precursor compounds for such biosynthetic reactions, were followed as functions of age in major anatomical regions of the brain. It was observed that while galactosyltransferase and choline phosphotransferase activities were significantly diminished, the microsomal cytochrome reductases, which contribute to the process of fatty acid elongation and desaturation, were also lowered. An attempt at adaptative increase of enzyme activity, in response to the stress, was apparent in the case of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, which could possibly explain, in part, the lower susceptibility of phospholipid biosynthesis to impairments induced by nutritional insufficiency.

Inhibition of glucose phosphorylation in rat brain by thiopental

The purpose of the present investigation was to shed some light on the suppression of the glycolytic pathway by anesthetics. The antimetabolite 6-aminonicotinamide (6-AN) was used to discriminate between the key enzymes hexokinase and phosphofructokinase which are suggested to be involved in the effect of anesthetics on glycolysis. The cerebral energy metabolism was studied in the isolated perfused rat brain after the addition of thiopental (0.15 mM) to the perfusion medium, after the administration of 6-AN (35mg/kg i.p.) to the intact animals 15 h before perfusion was started, as well as in brain preparations treated in the same manner with both 6-AN and thiopental. After a perfusion period of 30 min brain levels of the following substrates and metabolites were determined: phosphocreatine, ATP, ADP, AMP, glycogen, glucose, glucose 6-phosphate, fructose 6-phosphate, pyruvate, lactate, alpha-ketoglutarate, blutamate, ammonia, and 6-phosphogluconate. The metabolic alterations in the isolated rat brain caused by 6-AN or thiopental were such as reported in the literature. When the isolated brains of the 6-AN pretreated rats were perfused with thiopental we found as the most interesting result that the concentration of glucose 6-phosphate was reduced in comparison to that in brains only treated with 6-AN but still significantly higher than that in controls. The glucose concentration was significantly elevated and the lactate concentration decreased considerably. The effect of thiopental on cerebral glycolysis was interpreted as an inhibition of hexokinase activity.

The effects of acute and chronic morphine treatment and of morphine withdrawal on rat brain in vivo

1. The effects of morphine, nalorphine, acetazolamide, and 10% CO(2) on brain metabolite concentrations of 24h-starved rats were studied. 2. A single dose of morphine (20mg/kg body wt.) caused an increase in brain glucose concentration (42%) and decreased concentrations of lactate (24%), pyruvate (29%), citrate (20%), alpha-oxoglutarate (16%), malate (14%) and creatine phosphate (10%) after 30min. No changes were found in adenine nucleotide concentrations. 3. The same dose of morphine increased arterial CO(2) from 5.07 to 7.60 kN/m(2) (38 to 57 Torr), decreased the pH from 7.41 to 7.31 and decreased O(2) from 14.1 to 10.8kN/m(2) (106 to 81 Torr) at 30min. 4. Rats injected with morphine three times daily (20mg/kg body wt.) for 2 weeks had no changes in brain metabolite concentrations or in blood gases 30min after their last injection. 5. Nalorphine (an antagonist of morphine) caused essentially no changes in brain metabolite concentrations in normal rats. When nalorphine (20mg/kg) was administered to rats previously treated with morphine three times daily for 2 weeks, there was an increase in brain glucose (100%), lactate (23%), pyruvate (18%) and citrate (10%) concentrations. 6. Acetazolamide (an inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase) and 10% CO(2) increased the arterial CO(2) from 4.79 to 6.78kN/m(2) (36 to 51 Torr) and from 5.32 to 10.8kN/m(2) (40 to 81 Torr) respectively. 7. Both acetazolamide and 10% CO(2) caused changes in brain metabolite concentrations similar to those for acutely administered morphine. Thus 10% CO(2) caused increased brain glucose concentration (123%) and decreased brain lactate (46%), pyruvate (34%), citrate (26%), alpha-oxoglutarate (33%), malate (45%) and creatine phosphate (7%) concentrations. No changes in adenine nucleotide concentrations were found. 8. The results indicate that the effect of morphine on brain metabolite concentrations may be accounted for by the increased [CO(2)]. 9. These findings constitute a consistent pattern of metabolic changes after acute morphine administration, morphine addiction, and withdrawal from morphine addiction.