title: Cerebral energy metabolism in guinea pig fetuses during development.
abstract: During development fetal arterial oxygen tension falls, whereas cerebral oxygen consumption rises due to an increase in cerebral metabolism. To compensate for this increase in oxygen consumption, blood flow and therefore oxygen delivery to the cerebrum rises. To determine whether during development oxygen delivery to the cerebrum meets cerebral oxygen consumption, we measured the concentrations of high-energy phosphates and glycolytic intermediates in the cerebral cortex of fetal guinea pigs at different gestational ages. During development there was no change in the concentrations of adenosine triphosphate, creatine phosphate, adenosine monophosphate, and lactate. However, cerebral concentrations of adenosine diphosphate increased and those of glucose decreased. Our results suggest that the increase in fetal cerebral oxygen delivery during development meets cerebral oxygen consumption with increasing gestational age. We speculate that the measured rise in the concentrations of adenosine diphosphate may accelerate glycolysis during development and therefore may cause a rise in both cerebral blood flow to maintain oxygen delivery.
authors.affiliation: Zentrum für Frauenheilkunde und Geburtshilfe, Justus-Liebig-Universität, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krieglstein
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Steigelmann
mesh_terms: D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate / Q000032:analysis; D000249:Adenosine Monophosphate / Q000032:analysis; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000097:blood; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005333:Fetus / Q000378:metabolism*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007773:Lactates / Q000032:analysis; D019344:Lactic Acid; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology; D010725:Phosphocreatine / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D007773:Lactates; D010725:Phosphocreatine; D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D019344:Lactic Acid; D000249:Adenosine Monophosphate; D000244:Adenosine Diphosphate; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D010100:Oxygen