Comparison of [14C]glucose and [14C]deoxyglucose as tracers of brain glucose use

Cortical metabolic rates as measured by 2-deoxyglucose-uptake are increased after waking and decreased after sleep in mice

A recent hypothesis suggests that a major function of sleep is to renormalize synaptic changes that occur during wakefulness as a result of learning processes [G. Tononi, C. Cirelli, Sleep and synaptic homeostasis: a hypothesis, Brain Res. Bull. 62 (2003) 143-150; G. Tononi, C. Cirelli, Sleep function and synaptic homeostasis, Sleep Med. Rev. 10 (2006) 49-62]. Specifically, according to this synaptic homeostasis hypothesis, wakefulness results in a net increase in synaptic strength, while sleep is associated with synaptic downscaling. Since synaptic activity accounts for a large fraction of brain energy metabolism, one of the predictions of the hypothesis is that if synaptic weight increases in the course of wakefulness, cerebral metabolic rates should also increase, while the opposite would happen after a period of sleep. In this study we therefore measured brain metabolic rate during wakefulness and determined whether it was affected by the previous sleep-wake history. Three groups of mice in which behavioral states were determined by visual observation were subjected to 6h of sleep deprivation (SD). Group 1 was injected with 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) 45 min before the end of SD, while Group 2 and Group 3 were injected with 2-DG after an additional period (2-3h) of waking or sleep, respectively. During the 45-min interval between 2-DG injection and sacrifice all mice were kept awake. We found that in mice that slept approximately 2.5h the 2-DG-uptake was globally decreased, on average by 15-20%, compared to the first two groups that were kept awake. On average, Group 2, which stayed awake approximately 2h more than Group 1, showed only a small further increase in 2-DG-uptake relative to Group 1. Moreover, the brain regions in which 2-DG-uptake increased the least when waking was prolonged by approximately 2h showed the most pronounced decrease in DG-uptake after sleep. The data are consistent with the prediction that sleep may reset cerebral metabolic rates to a lower level.

Evidence that the brain of the conscious dog is insulin sensitive

The aim of this study was to determine whether a selective increase in the level of insulin in the blood perfusing the brain is a determinant of the counterregulatory response to hypoglycemia. Experiments were carried out on 15 conscious 18-h-fasted dogs. Insulin was infused (2 mU/kg per min) in separate, randomized studies into a peripheral vein (n = 7) or both carotid and vertebral arteries (n = 8). This resulted in equivalent systemic insulinemia (84 +/- 6 vs. 86 +/- 6 microU/ml) but differing insulin levels in the head (84 +/- 6 vs. 195 +/- 5 microU/ml, respectively). Glucose was infused during peripheral insulin infusion to maintain the glucose level (56 +/- 2 mg/dl) at a value similar to that seen during head insulin infusion (58 +/- 2 mg/dl). Despite equivalent peripheral insulin levels and similar hypoglycemia; steady state plasma epinephrine (792 +/- 198 vs. 2394 +/- 312 pg/ml), norepinephrine (404 +/- 33 vs. 778 +/- 93 pg/ml), cortisol (6.8 +/- 1.8 vs. 9.8 +/- 1.6 micrograms/dl) and pancreatic polypeptide (722 +/- 273 vs. 1061 +/- 255 pg/ml) levels were all increased to a greater extent during head insulin infusion (P < 0.05). Hepatic glucose production, measured with [3-3H]glucose, rose from 2.6 +/- 0.2 to 4.3 +/- 0.4 mg/kg per min (P < 0.01) in response to head insulin infusion but remained unchanged (2.6 +/- 0.5 mg/kg per min) during peripheral insulin infusion. Similarly, gluconeogenesis, lipolysis, and ketogenesis were increased twofold (P < 0.001) during head compared with peripheral insulin infusion. Cardiovascular parameters were also significantly higher (P < 0.05) during head compared with peripheral insulin infusion. We conclude that during hypoglycemia in the conscious dog (a) the brain is directly responsive to physiologic elevations of insulin and (b) the response includes a profound stimulation of the autonomic nervous system with accompanying metabolic and cardiovascular changes.