title: Evaluation of [14C]phenylacetate as a prototype tracer for the measurement of glial metabolism in the rat brain.
abstract: [(14)C]Phenylacetate was designed as a prototype tracer for the measurement of glial metabolism, and its potency in comparison with that of [(14)C]acetate was evaluated in this study. Normal rats were intravenously injected with [(14)C]phenylacetate or [(14)C]acetate, and radioactivity concentrations were measured in the plasma, cerebral cortex, cerebellum and peripheral tissues by dissection method. In addition, [(14)C]phenylacetate uptake in the rat brain was compared by autoradiography with that of [(14)C]acetate following the injection of fluorocitrate, a selective glial toxin, into the brain. [(14)C]Phenylacetate was rapidly taken up into the brain and was retained at high levels up to 20 min postadministration. The levels of [(14)C]phenylacetate in the cerebral cortex were about threefold higher than those of [(14)C]acetate at 1 min postinjection. Microinjection of fluorocitrate into the right striatum resulted in a significant decrease of the uptake of both [(14)C]phenylacetate and [(14)C]acetate into the right striatum. Radiochemical analysis confirmed the rapid hydrolysis of [(14)C]phenylacetate in the rat brain, with less than 20% of radioactivity representing unmetabolized [(14)C]phenylacetate at 1 min postinjection. These results suggest that [(14)C]phenylacetate is rapidly taken up into the brain and is hydrolyzed and converted to [(14)C]acetate. [(14)C]Phenylacetate may have the potential to serve as a tracer for the measurement of glial metabolism in an intact brain.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Physics and Engineering Laboratory, Course of Allied Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. inoue@sahs.med.osaka-u.ac.jp <inoue@sahs.med.osaka-u.ac.jp>
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Rie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hosoi
authors.forename: Sotaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Momosaki
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Misato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amitani
authors.forename: Masatoshi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Antony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gee
mesh_terms: D000085:Acetates / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D008297:Male; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000378:metabolism*; D010648:Phenylacetates / Q000378:metabolism*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D000085:Acetates; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D010648:Phenylacetates; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C025136:phenylacetic acid