Adenosine and cyclic AMP in cerebral cortex of rats in hypoxia, status epilepticus and hypercapnia

The influence of hypercapnia, hypoxia and status epilepticus on cerebral cortex concentrations of adenosine, adenine nucleotides and cyclic AMP was studied on lightly anaesthetized (70% N2O) and artificially ventilated rats. Neither hypercapnia (arterial PCO2 about 80 and about 300 mmHg) nor hypoxia (minimal values of 19 mmHg) altered tissue concentrations of AMP, cyclic AMP or adenosine. Bicuculline-induced status epilepticus was accompanied by increased concentrations of cyclic AMP but adenosine concentration did not change. Experiments with ischemia, and those in which tissue hypoxia was exaggerated by unilateral carotid artery ligation, showed that tissue adenosine concentrations were elevated only when AMP concentration rose. It is concluded that the marked increase in cerebral blood flow which occurs in hypoxia and status epilepticus is unrelated to changes in tissue adenosine concentration and that the increase in cyclic AMP during neuronal hyperactivity is triggered by other mechanisms than adenosine accumulation.