Simultaneous Measurement of Local Glucose Utilization and Blood Flow in the Rat Brain: An Autoradiographic Method Using Two Tracers Labeled with Carbon-14

A simplified technique that uses two radionuclide tracers has been devised to measure local cerebral glucose utilization (lCGU) and local cerebral blood flow (lCBF) in the same rat, providing values of lCGU and lCBF that are statistically indistinguishable from those derived from conventional single-isotope methods.

Abstract

A simplified technique that uses two radionuclide tracers has been devised to measure local cerebral glucose utilization (ICGU) and local cerebral blood flow (ICBF) in the same rat. The method employs [14C]-2-deoxyglucose and [14C]iodoantipyrine to produce an autoradiogram before and another after extraction into chloroform of the [14C]iodoantipyrine from the brain sections. The chloroform-extracted autoradiogram yields ICGU, and the difference in tissue carbon-14 concentration between the two autoradiograms permits calculation of ICBF. The double-isotope technique provides values of ICGU and ICBF that are statistically indistinguishable from those derived from conventional single-isotope methods.