Optical measurements of oxygen delivery and consumption in gerbil cerebral cortex

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Abstract
Oxygen metabolism of the cerebral cortex of anesthetized gerbils was monitored by surface fluorescence and reflectance spectrophotometry both in vivo and in specimens freeze-trapped by the surface-freezing technique. Fiber optic light guides were used for optical coupling for determining mitochondrial flavoprotein and pyridine nucleotide fluorescence and for recording dual-wavelength reflectance spectra that indicated the levels of ferrocytochromes aa3 and c + c1 in the cortex and the oxygen saturation of cortical hemoglobin. During anoxic episodes increases in ferrocytochromes aa3 and c + c1 and in reduced pyridine nucleotides and flavoproteins were observed only when the cortical hemoglobin was more than 85% disoxygenated. Indeed the steady-state levels of oxidation-reduction of mitochondrial respiratory-chain components remained constant over a wide range of oxygen delivery, increased reduction being observed only when the fraction of inspired oxygen fell below 6%; these properties of mitochondria in vivo resemble those found in vitro. However, in normoxic animals the absorbance at 605 nm that may arise from ferri- or ferrocytochrome aa3 is larger than would be expected of purified mitochondria and may represent a pool of mitochondria that remains reduced at all levels of tissue oxygenation or a pigment not involved in oxygen metabolism.