Delayed regional metabolic actions of phencyclidine.

Phencyclidine (PCP), a psychotomimetic drug of abuse, produces mental changes and manifestations in humans which are reminiscent of schizophrenia, though the mechanism of these actions remains unknown. We report here a biphasic time course of PCP action on regional cerebral glucose metabolism extending over 48 h. A single dose of PCP (8.6 mg/kg) produces an initial increase in glucose metabolism (at 3 h) and a later decrease in glucose metabolism (at 24 h) without a return to baseline until 48 h. A single lower dose of PCP (0.86 mg/kg), a dose which is considered selective for action at the NMDA-PCP receptor, produces no early metabolic change (at 3 h), but replicates the regional hypometabolism albeit less intense at 24 h. The delayed cerebral hypometabolism does not appear to be related to PCP-induced intracellular vacuolization, seen in the retrosplenial cortex. These metabolic changes may be associated with the psychotomimetic effects of PCP and thus may be relevant to psychosis in humans.