Hypoxia and the energy charge of the cerebral adenylate pool.

A brief period of anoxia in vivo causes a transitory decrease in the size of the adenylate pool in the rat brain. This is probably caused by feedback inhibition by AMP of adenine nucleotide synthesis. Exposing rats to various degrees of hypoxia suggests that the sensitivity of the brain to lack of O(2) results from the brain's limited ability to maintain an adequate energy charge in unfavourable circumstances.