Swelling of glial cells in lactacidosis and by glutamate: significance of Cl(-)-transport.

Swelling of glial and nerve cells is characteristic of brain damage in cerebral ischemia or trauma. The therapeutical efficiency of inhibition of Cl(-)-transport by a novel antagonist, the diuretic torasemide, on cytotoxic swelling of glial cells from lactacidosis, or glutamate was analyzed. Lactacidosis and the interstitial accumulation of glutamate are hallmarks of the pathophysiological alterations in ischemic or traumatic brain tissue. C6 glioma cells harvested from culture and suspended in a physiological medium were either exposed to pH 6.2, or 5.0 by lactic acid, or exposed to 1 mM glutamate at normal pH. Cell swelling and viability were quantified by flow cytometry. Lactacidosis of …