ANAEROBIC GLYCOLYSIS IN BRAIN SLICES AFTER DEPRIVATION OF OXYGEN AND GLUCOSE

Abstract

If brain slices are deprived of oxygen and glucose while they are incubated in saline medium at 38 °C. the respiratory activity, subsequently determined in the presence of oxygen and glucose, is slowly decreased; the anaerobic glycolytic activity, determined after adding glucose, is very rapidly lost. These effects are prevented if the deprivation occurs at 0 °C.Loss of glycolytic activity does not occur rapidly if the brain is kept in the head at 38° after decapitation nor if slices are kept humid but without suspending medium at 38° in the absence of oxygen.The glycolytic activity of slices which have been deprived of oxygen and glucose in saline medium at 38° can be largely restored by a period of aerobiosis or by merely replacing the medium with fresh oxygenated medium.Addition of pyruvate to the medium stimulates glycolysis by normal slices but not that by deprived slices. The stimulatory effect of pyruvate reappears if the deprived slices are given a period of aerobiosis.It is concluded that the drastic irreversible effects of brief cerebral anemia on brain function cannot be ascribed to irreversible loss of aerobic or anaerobic metabolic activity.