Effects of cocaine on blood flow and oxygen metabolism in the rat brain: implications for phMRI.
The effects of cocaine on cerebral blood flow and tissue oxygen levels in the rat brain were investigated with concurrent laser Doppler flowmetry and fluorescence quenching spectroscopy. Responses elicited by mild hypercapnia were used as calibration to assess the effects of cocaine on oxidative metabolism. Intravenous cocaine challenge of 0.5 mg/kg induced significant increases in tissular oxygenation and perfusion in all regions investigated (primary motor cortex, medial prefrontal cortex and dorsal striatum). Mild hypercapnia, a challenge that affects haemodynamics but not metabolism, elicited comparable changes in blood flow but substantially larger changes in tissue oxygen levels. These differences in tissue oxygen build-up suggest that increased oxidative metabolism is a significant component of the cerebral metabolic response to acute cocaine challenge. The implications for the interpretation of pharmacological MRI data are discussed.
Ceolin
Laura
L
Department of Neuroimaging, Psychiatry CEDD, GlaxoSmithKline Medicines Research Centre, 37135 Verona, Italy.
Schwarz
Adam J
AJ
Gozzi
Alessandro
A
Reese
Torsten
T
Bifone
Angelo
A
D000818:Animals; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000187:drug effects*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D003042:Cocaine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D004867:Equipment Design; D006935:Hypercapnia / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008954:Models, Biological; D010100:Oxygen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D018765:Dopamine Uptake Inhibitors; D003042:Cocaine; D010100:Oxygen