Summary:The influence on hippocampal glucose utiliza tion of a transient lO-min forebrain ischemia was quanti fied in male Wi star rats after 2 and 3 weeks as well as after 3 months by application of the [14C]2-deoxyglucose tech nique. Ischemia was induced by occlusion of the carotid arteries and simultaneous lowering of the blood pressure to 40 mm Hg. For identification of the hippocampal ar chitecture, sections were stained for perikarya (cresyl vi olet) and for acetylcholinesterase. The hippocampal re gions clearly showed different responses to the ischemic insult. The necrotic pyramidal cells being almost com pletely removed, significant increases in glucose utiliza tion occurred in most layers of the CAl sector at 2 and 3For over 100 years it has been a well-documented fact that cell populations in the brain do not suc cumb to an ischemic insult uniformly (Sommer, 1880; Bratz, 1899). This concept of selective vulner ability has been addressed in numerous experimen tal studies. Recently, evidence has been presented that accumulation of Ca 2 + on cellular as well as on subcellular levels (Dienel, 1984; Simon et aI., 1984a; Hossmann et aI. , 1985; Sakamoto et aI. , 1986; van Reempts et aI. , 1986; Deshpande et aI., 1987; Dux et aI. , 1987) and excessive excitatory in put due to excitatory amino acids (Benveniste et aI. , 1984; Simon et aI., 1984b; Lodge et aI. , 1986) are interwoven and play a key role in ischemic cell damage. These studies as well as work on postisch emic capillary perfusion (lmdahl and Hossmann, 1986), impaired protein synthesis (Thiel mann et aI., Received November 2, 1989; revised December 12, 1989; ac cepted December 22, 1989. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. T. Beck at Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology, Depart ment of Pathology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 630 W. 168 St., New York, NY 10032, U.S.A.Abbreviations used: NMDA, N-methyl-D-aspartate.
542weeks post ischemia, while widespread reductions pre vailed in all other sectors and the dentate gyrus. At 3 months after the ischemic insult, glucose utilization was reduced in all hippocampal structures including the CAl region. The increases in glucose utilization in the CAl sector are suggested to indicate long-lasting presynaptic hyperexcitation, while the widespread reductions in glu cose utilization demonstrate that neuronal activity is also altered in hippocampal areas that do not show major his tological damage. Key Words: Cerebral ischemia Hippocampus-Local cerebral glucose utilization Long-term recovery.1986), and impaired normalization of pH in the CAl sector (Munekata and Hossmann, 1987) cover a time range that extends up to 7 days post ischemia. The same holds true for the extensive histological work characterizing the temporal profile of isch emic damage in gerbil and rat models of cerebral ischemia (Kirino, 1982; Pulsinelli et aI. , 1982a; Kirino et aI., 1984; Smith et aI., 1984;Schmidt Kastner and Hossmann, 1988), the respective time points ranging from 3 ...