Influence of age and short-term starvation on the ATPase activity in the developing rat brain

Na+-K+-stimulated and Mg++-dependent ATPase activities were investigated in the developing cerebral cortex, subcortical structures, and medulla oblongata of rats as was the effect of 24-hr lasting starvation and thirst on those enzyme activities. We found (a) a developmental increase of these ATPase activities in the developing rat brain with the maximum in the cerebral cortex and with the minimum in the medulla oblongata; (b) a decrease of the ratio of these enzyme activities, which was near unity in adult animals; (c) an increase of ATPase activities in the cerebral cortex and subcortical formations of young rats under starvation conditions followed by a decrease of the Mg++/Na+-K+-ATPase activity ratios in these structures; and (d) a decrease of these activities, especially in the cerebral cortex, and an increase of the activity ratios in adult animals under starvation conditions.