Local cerebral glucose utilization in the homozygous Brattleboro rat

The [14C]deoxyglucose technique was used to measure brain glucose utilization in homozygous male Brattleboro and age-matched Long-Evans control rats. Brattleboro homozygotes had significantly higher daily water intakes and plasma osmolalities and significantly lower body weights than controls. Glucose utilization for the brain as a whole and for 46 discrete brain structures was not significantly different for the two strains. Our results indicate that vasopressin is not essential for the maintenance of overall brain glucose utilization in resting, awake rats.