Inhibition of Glycolysis Alters Potassium Ion Transport and Mitochondrial Redox Activity in Rat Brain

To examine the relationships between brain glycolysis, ion transport, and mitochondrial reduction/oxidation (redox) activity, extracellular potassium ion activity (K+0) and redox shifts of cytochrome oxidase (cytochrome a,a3) were recorded previous to and during superfusion of rat cerebral cortex with the glycolytic inhibitor iodoacetic acid (IAA). IAA produced oxidation of cytochrome a,a3, increased local oxygenation, increased K+0, and, in response to neuronal activation, slowed rates of K+0 reaccumulation. Rates of rereduction of cytochrome a,a3, after the oxidation of this cytochrome by stimulation, were also slowed by IAA. These effects of IAA demonstrate the dependence of K+0 reaccumulation on the integrity of glycolysis, support the concept that active processes are involved in brain ion transport, and suggest a link between ATP supplied by glycolysis and ion transport activity. These data are also compatible with the suggestion that residual dysfunctions after brain ischemia result from derangements in glycolytic functioning rather than from limitations in oxygen availability or oxidative metabolic activity.

Download Full-text

Potassium Ion Homeostasis and Mitochondrial Redox Activity in Brain: Relative Changes as Indicators of Hypoxia

Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism ◽

10.1038/jcbfm.1988.44 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 155-162 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Stephen J. Milito ◽

Cesar N. Raffin ◽

Myron Rosenthal ◽

Thomas J. Sick

Keyword(s):

Cerebral Cortex ◽

Ion Transport ◽

Ion Homeostasis ◽

Anaerobic Capacity ◽

Potassium Ion ◽

Redox Activity ◽

Mammalian Brain ◽

Critical Threshold ◽

Extracellular Potassium ◽

Neuronal Activation

This study was directed at relating ion transport and mitochondrial redox activity during hypoxia, as a step toward definition of brain oxygen sufficiency. To accomplish this, extracellular potassium ion activity (K+o) was recorded by ion-selective microelectrodes while reduction/oxidation (redox) ratios of cytochrome oxidase (cytochrome a,a3) were monitored by reflection spectrophotometry in cerebral cortex of rats anesthetized with pentobarbital. In normoxia, neuronal activation by direct cortical stimulation produced transient oxidation of cytochrome a,a3 and elevation of K+o. Moderate hypoxia (Pao2 above 50 mm Hg) resulted in reduction of cytochrome a,a3 but only slight elevation of K+o. At this level of hypoxia, cytochrome a,a3 continued to respond to neuronal activation with transient shifts toward oxidation and rates of K+o reaccumulation were unchanged from control. When Pao2 was further decreased below a critical threshold, stimulus-provoked oxidative responses of mitochondrial reactants were replaced by shifts toward reduction, but rates of reaccumulation of K+, spilled into the extracellular space by neuronal activation, remained unchanged. Only during severe hypoxia (Pao2 less than 20 mm Hg) was it possible in some animals to record a slowing in the reaccumulation of K+o without provocation of spreading cortical depression. These data indicate that ion transport activity in cerebral cortex is more refractory to hypoxia than is mitochondrial redox functioning. They suggest an in vivo parallel to the “cushioning” effect of mitochondria in vitro, in which oxygen consumption remains constant despite fluctuations in oxygenation and redox ratios, and also that there may be a greater anaerobic capacity to provide energy for ion transport in mammalian brain than has previously been appreciated.

Download Full-text