Adenosine-stimulated astroglial swelling in cat cerebral cortex in vivo with total inhibition by a non-diuretic acylaryloxyacid derivative

Abstract

The intact cerebral cortices of cats were exposed in vivo under normothermic conditions and superfused with isotonic artificial CSF containing added 0.125 mM adenosine. This resulted in Cl- rich cerebrocortical swelling which was shown by EM to be associated with an expanded astroglial compartment. The addition of DCPIB, a non-diuretic acylaryloxyacid analog of ethacrynic acid and an inhibitor of coupled Cl- transport in cerebral cortex in vitro, totally blocked astroglial swelling and the concomitant increases in tissue ion contents. The studies support previous experiments on the mechanism of formation of astroglial swelling. The pathological consequences of astroglial swelling and the clinical applications of these findings are discussed.