The Effect of Hyperthermia Upon Oxygen Consumption and Upon Organic Phosphates, Glycolytic Metabolites, Citric Acid Cycle Intermediates and Associated Amino Acids in Rat Cerebral Cortex

The influence of hyperthermia on cerebral blood flow, cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen and cerebral metabolite levels was studied by increasing body temperature from 37° to 40°C and 42°C in rats under nitrous oxide anaesthesia maintained at constant arterial CO 2 tension. The metabolic rate for oxygen increased by 5‐6% per degree centigrade. At 42°C the increase in cerebral blood Row was comparable to that in the metabolic rate. The increased temperatures were not accompanied by changes in organic phosphates (phosphocreatine, ATP, ADP or AMP) or in lactate/pyruvate ratio. There was an increase in the tissue to blood glucose concentration ratio. At steady state, there was an increase in glucose‐6‐phosphate but no other changes in glycolytic metabolites or citric acid cycle intermediates, and the only change in amino acids studied (glutamate, glutamine, aspartate, alanine and GABA) was an increase in glutamate concentration.