Effect of triperidol on carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism in rat brain-cortex slices

1. The effect of triperidol on the metabolism of glucose, pyruvate, glutamate, aspartate and glycine was studied with rat brain-cortex slices, U-(14)C-labelled substrates and a quantitative radiochromatographic technique. 2. Triperidol at a concentration of 0.2mm decreased the oxygen uptake and the (14)CO(2) production by about 30% when glucose, pyruvate and glutamate were used as substrates, whereas no effects were observed with aspartate and glycine. 3. The drug did not alter qualitatively the metabolic pattern of the substrates. 4. Quantitatively, triperidol decreased the incorporation of (14)C from [U-(14)C]glucose and [U(14)-C]-pyruvate into glutamate, glutamine and gamma-aminobutyrate but not into lactate, alanine and aspartate. The overall utilization rates of glucose and pyruvate were decreased. The relative specific radioactivities of glutamate and aspartate were also decreased. 5. Triperidol increased the rate of disappearance of U-(14)C-labelled glutamate, aspartate and glycine from the incubation medium, and altered the distribution of their metabolites between medium and tissue. 6. No appreciable effect of triperidol on [1-(14)C]galactose disappearance was found.