Cerebrospinal fluid choline levels in Parkinson's disease

Protective action of 1,3-butanediol in cerebral ischemia. A neurologic, histologic, and metabolic study.

1,3-Butanediol (BD) is converted in the body to β-hydroxybutyrate, and previous studies have shown that hyperketonemia had beneficial effects in experimental models of generalized hypoxia. The aim of this study was to determine if BD would reduce brain damage following cerebral ischemia. A transient forebrain ischemia of 30-min duration was induced by the four-vessel occlusion technique in control and BD-treated rats (25 mmol/kg, i.p.; 30 min prior to ischemia). BD treatment led to significant improvement of neurologic deficit during the 72-h recovery period and reduced neuronal damage in the striatum and cortex but not in the CA1 sector of the hippocampus. Evaluation of cerebral energy me…

Effect of acidosis on lipid peroxidation in brain slices.

Acidification of the incubation medium markedly increased lipid peroxidation of cortical brain slices. Lactic acidosis caused a more extensive lipid peroxidation than did phosphoric acidosis (+35% at pH 6 and +81% at pH 5), probably due to the rapid diffusion of the protonated form of lactic acid across cell membranes. These results support the hypothesis that free radical mechanisms may be involved in the cytotoxicity of acidosis.

Effect of acidosis and anoxia on iron delocalization from brain homogenates.

Abstract Cortical homogenates were prepared from rat brain in Krebs-Ringer phosphate media adjusted to pH 7, 6 or 5 and incubated for 1 hr under aerotic or anaerobic conditions in the presence of dipyridyl, an iron chelator. Low molecular weight species (LMWS) iron was measured spectrophotometrically after passing of the homogenates through a 10,000- M , ultrafiltration membrane. Following aerobic incubation, LMWS iron reached 1.24 μg/g tissue at pH 7, and increased 1.7-fold at pH 6 and 3.1-fold at pH 5. Anoxia enhanced significantly the amount of ultrafiltrable iron at the three pH values, the LMWS iron level being increased by 190% at pH 7, by 113% at pH 6, and by 77% at pH 5. Addition of…

Comparison of the effects of valproate, ethosuximide, phenytoin, and pentobarbital on cerebral energy metabolism in the rat.

The acute effects of valproate (200 and 400 mg/kg), ethosuximide (200 and 400 mg/kg), phenytoin (25 and 50 mg/kg), and pentobarbital (30 and 60 mg/kg) on cerebral energy metabolism of rats were studied by measuring the cerebral content of energy metabolites and by evaluating the rate of metabolite utilization following decapitation. The treatments did not affect the levels of phosphocreatine (PCr), ATP, ADP, and AMP, but did enhance the glycogen or glucose stores. Pentobarbital induced a decrease in lactate, whereas valproate led to a decrease in pyruvate and an increase in lactate. Calculation of the metabolite fluxes after decapitation showed that all treatments delayed the rate of ATP ut…

Fasting prior to transient cerebral ischemia reduces delayed neuronal necrosis.

A transient brain ischemia of 30-min duration was induced by the four-vessel occlusion technique in normally fed and in 48-hr-fasted rats. Evaluation of brain damage 72 hr after ischemia showed that fasting reduced neuronal necrosis in the striatum, the neocortex, and the lateral part of the CA1 sector of hippocampus. Signs of status spongiosis in the pars reticulata of the substantia nigra were seen in 75% of fed rats and in only 19% of fasted rats. The protective effect was associated with reduction in mortality and in postischemic seizure incidence. The metabolic changes induced by fasting were evaluated before and during ischemia. After 30 min of four-vessel occlusion, fasted rats showe…