Effects of Hypoxic Hypoxia on Cerebral Phosphate Metabolites and pH in the Anesthetized Infant Rabbit

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Abstract
The effects of hypoxic hypoxia on high-energy phosphate metabolites and intracellular pH (pHi) in the brain of the anesthetized infant rabbit were studied in vivo using 31P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Five 10- to 16-day-old rabbits were anesthetized with 1.5% halothane. Ventilation was controlled to maintain normocarbia. Inspired O2 fraction was adjusted to produce three states of arterial oxygenation: hyperoxia (Pao2 > 250 mm Hg), normoxia (Pao2 ∼ 100 mm Hg), and hypoxia (Pao2 25–30 mm Hg). During hypoxia, blood pressure was kept within 20% of control values with a venous infusion of epinephrine. During hyperoxia, the phosphocreatine-to-ATP ratio was 0.86, a value that is 2–2.5 times less than that reported for adults. During normoxia, ATP decreased by 20% and Pi increased by 90% from hyperoxia values. During 60 min of hypoxia, the concentrations of high-energy phosphate metabolites did not change, but intracellular and arterial blood pH (pHa) decreased significantly. When hyperoxia was reestablished, pHi returned to normal and pHa remained low. These results suggest that during periods of hypoxemia, the normotensive infant rabbit maintains intracellular concentrations of cerebral high-energy phosphates better than has been reported for adult animals.