Cerebral blood flow and metabolism in an astrocyte dysfunction

Fluorocitrate (FC) is a specific metabolic inhibitor of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle in astrocytes. We evaluated whether inhibition of the astrocyte TCA cycle by FC would affect the oxygen metabolism in the rat brain.
Although the ¹⁴C-acetate autoradiography revealed a significant inhibition of the astrocyte metabolism at 4 h after the intracranial FC injection, ¹⁵O-gas PET showed no significant differences in cerebral blood flow and oxygen metabolism. ¹⁾
The regional cerebral oxygen consumption as well as the hemodynamic parameters were maintained even in the face of inhibition of the astrocyte TCA cycle metabolism in the rat brain.

1) C.Malacia et al. Brain Science. 2019.