Linked Life Data

8043646

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/8043646

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
1994-9-1
pubmed:abstractText
A convenient physiology of the nervous system closely depends on the availability of glucose, the lack of which quickly results in syncope and death. Carbohydrate metabolism in the brain was long thought of as being specific and different from liver carbohydrate metabolism. The present report tries to summarize current data and advances in our knowledge about carbohydrate metabolism. Glucose is brought to the brain by blood flowing through a special network of arteries and is quickly catabolized by the glycolytic and tricarboxylic acid cycle pathways to synthesize energy. It is also used in the synthesis of numerous amino acids, nucleotides and NADPH. Glucose can be polymerized into glycogen in the brain. The nerve tissue is capable of synthesizing glucose-6-phosphate in the gluconeogenic pathway since the fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, the key enzyme believed to be absent, is actually active and has been purified up to electrophoretic homogeneity. Moreover, the possibility of free glucose synthesis by astrocytes exists. Although the exact role of glycogen in the brain is not totally clear, it is known that the polysaccharide content generally decreases when the functioning of the brain is stimulated and increases in sedative state. This carbohydrate can therefore serve as an indicator for the level of brain activity. Through the administration of methionine sulfoximine, it is possible to increase the amount of glycogen in the brain massively and obtain particles similar to those found in the liver. These in vivo findings have been confirmed by studies based on cultured astrocytes. It has been shown with cultured astrocytes that glutamate increases glycogen synthesis in a pathway which still remains to be elucidated. Brain carbohydrate metabolism is thus in many ways similar to liver carbohydrate metabolism. The astrocyte constitutes the main cell implicated in this metabolism. Improvement in our knowledge about brain carbohydrate metabolism should spread the use of brain glucose metabolism in the diagnosis of certain diseases.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0300-9084
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
76
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
111-20
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1994
pubmed:articleTitle
Some aspects of carbohydrate metabolism in the brain.
pubmed:affiliation
Laboratoire de Physiologie animale, Université d'Orléans, France.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't