Glucose utilization of ischemic hippocampal slices.

Hippocampal brain slices that were 1000 mu thick were prepared from Sprague-Dawley rats and studied using in vitro glucose utilization under well-oxygenated conditions or after a 15 min anoxic insult produced with a nitrogen atmosphere. Autoradiography reveals that glucose utilization is increased in CA1 and CA3 stratum radiatum of 1000 mu slices, even with full oxygenation, compared to the same regions in 540 mu slices. Following anoxia, there is an initial addition increase in stratum oriens of CA1 and CA3 glucose utilization that is followed by a decline in glucose utilization in all slice regions within an hour of the insult. Because increased glucose utilization is apparent at the slice surfaces as well as at the interior, it is suggested that thick brain slices are a model of brain ischemia, not just hypoxia.