The Effect of Moderate and Marked Hypercapnia Upon the Energy State and Upon the Cytoplasmic Nadh/Nad+ Ratio of the Rat Brain

Abstract— The energy state of brain tissue was evaluated from the tissue concentrations of ATP, ADP and AMP and the cytoplasmic NADH/NAD + ratio from the tissue, CSF and blood concentrations of lactate and pyruvate, and from the intracellular pH′, in rats exposed to carbon dioxide concentrations of 640 per cent. The hypercapnia had no significant effect on the energy state of the tissue. Hypercapnia of increasing severity gave rise to a progressive decrease in the pyruvate concentration; the lactate concentration fell at low CO 2 concentrations, but no further decrease was observed at CO 2 concentrations greater than 20 per cent. There was a progressive rise in the intracellular lactate/pyruvate ratio at increasing CO 2 concentrations, corresponding to the fall in intracellular pH, i.e. the calculated NADH/NAD + ratios remained normal. It is therefore concluded that hypercapnia does not affect the cytoplasmic redox state.