INVITRO AND INVIVO EFFECTS OF AMMONIA ON GLUCOSE-METABOLISM IN THE ASTROCYTES OF RAT CEREBRAL-CORTEX

Effects of 1 and 5 mM ammonium acetate on glucose metabolism were studied in astrocytes. But for an elevation in the levels of fructose-6-phosphate, phosphoenol pyruvate, and pyruvate, glucose metabolism was unaltered in the presence of 1 mM ammonium acetate. With 5 mM ammonium acetate, but for unaltered lactate, ADP, ATP and decreased aspartate, levels of several intermediates were elevated. Similar results were obtained when astrocytes isolated from hyperammonemic rats were incubated with glucose except for an enhanced production of (CO2)-C-14 from [U-C-14]glucose. It is suggested that glucose metabolism of astrocytes may not be severely affected in astrocytes of cerebral cortex in acute hyperammonemic states.