AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 246, Issue 4 608-R618, Copyright © 1984 by American Physiological Society
Local cerebral glucose utilization in fetal and neonatal sheep
R. M. Abrams, M. Ito, J. E. Frisinger, C. S. Patlak, K. D. Pettigrew and C. Kennedy
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.
