Local cerebral glucose utilization during status epilepticus in newborn primates

The effect of bicuculline-induced status epilepticus (SE) on local cerebral metabolic rates for glucose (LCMRglc) was studied in 2-wk-old ketamine-anesthetized marmoset monkeys, using the 2-[14C]-deoxy-D-glucose autoradiographical technique. To estimate LCMRglc in cerebral cortex and thalamus during SE, the lumped constant (LC) for 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) and the rate constants for 2-DG and glucose were calculated for these regions. The control LC was 0.43 in frontoparietal cortex, 0.51 in temporal cortex, and 0.50 in thalamus; it increased to 1.07 in frontoparietal cortex, 1.13 in temporal cortex, and 1.25 in thalamus after 30 min of seizures. With control LC values, LCMRglc in frontoparietal cortex, temporal cortex, and dorsomedial thalamus appeared to increase four to sixfold. With seizure LC values, LCMRglc increased 1.5- to 2-fold and only in cortex. During 45-min seizures, LCMRglc in cortex and thalamus probably increases 4- to 6-fold initially and later falls to the 1.5- to 2-fold level as tissue glucose concentrations decrease. Together with our previous results demonstrating depletion of high-energy phosphates and glucose in these regions, the data suggest that energy demands exceed glucose supply. The long-term effects of these metabolic changes on the developing brain remain to be determined.