BRAIN REGIONAL GLUCOSE USE DURING SOMAN-INDUCED SEIZURES

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 4  (2) , 203-210
Abstract
The (14C)-2-deoxyglucose procedure was used to determine the effects of the potent acetylcholinesterase inhibitor soman on regional metabolism in the brain. Groups of rats were given 112 or 84 .mu.g/kg soman or saline i.m. and 15 min later the (14C)-2-deoxyglucose mapping procedure was initiated. All animals given 112 .mu.g/kg soman and 2 of 6 given 84 .mu.g/kg soman developed seizures that continued throughout the mapping procedure. High rates of glucose used occurred in most brain regions during seizures. The most striking increases occurred in substantia nigra, septum, outer layer of dendate gyrus of the hippocampus, hippocampal body, frontal cortex, caudate, ventral thalamus, parietal cortex, medial geniculate and interpeduncular nucleus. Only the inferior colliculus, superior olivary nucleus and lateral habenula were unaffected by the seizures. The mid-layers of cerebral cortex rostal to superior colliculus showed marked reductions in glucose use which may have represented inhibition of neuronal activity or functional failure from depleted energy reserves. The animals given 84 .mu.g/kg i.m. that did not have seizures had regional glucose use patterns similar to controls. The brain damage observed in soman treated rats may have been due to the excessive neuronal stimulation that occurred during the prolonged soman-induced seizure.