Carbohydrate metabolism in fetal and neonatal rat brain during anoxia and recovery.

Systemic and cerebral metabolic responses to acute anoxia were studied in term-fetal and neonatal rats in order to account for the greater anoxic tolerance of fetuses. Measurements of blood acid-base balance were correlated with changes in the concentrations of adenine nucleotides, creatine, phosphocreatine, and glycogen in brain, and of glucose, pyruvate, and lactate in brain, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid during 1) exposure (20-40 min) to 100% nitrogen at 37 degrees C, and 2) subsequent recovery in air. Blood PCO2 was higher initially in fetuses and increased more rapidly during anoxia in fetuses than in neonates, exceeding 150 mmHg after 20 min. Brain glycogen, phosphocreatine, and total adenine nucleotides declined more slowly in fetuses than in neonates during anoxia, whereas brain glucose levels declined at similar rates in the two groups. From the changes in these preformed and potential energy stores, it was estimated that total cerebral energy consumption during anoxia was significantly lower in fetuses. The data suggest that the more severe hypercapnia superimposed on anoxia in fetuses decreased cerebral metabolic demands, and thus prolonged survival. An incidental finding was that L-lactate readily enters the immature brain from the blood during anoxia, and in the early recovery phase may constitute the preferred substrate for cerebral oxidative metabolism, sparing glucose.