The Deoxyglucose Method in the Ferret Brain. II. Glucose Utilization Images and Normal Values

To measure cerebral glucose utilization with the autoradiographic deoxyglucose method, the tracer transfer rate constants and lumped constants must be known. 2-Deoxyglucose (2-DG) and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) constants were determined in 18 gray and white matter brain structures of the anesthetized ferret. The ferret is a domestic carnivore particularly suitable for deoxyglucose studies because of its small brain size and low body weight. The average gray matter rate constants for tracer transfer across the blood-brain barrier are similar for 2-DG and FDG in the ferret brain (K*₁ = 0.21 ml/g/min and k*₂ = 0.39 min⁻¹). The rate constant for the rate-limiting step of tracer phosphorylation, k*₃, is 1.6 times higher for FDG than for 2-DG (0.21 vs. 0.13 min⁻¹). Loss of metabolized tracer is about 1–1.5%/min throughout the ferret brain for both tracers as estimated for a 180 min experimental period. Taking into account this loss, the lumped constant is 0.92 for FDG and 0.68 for 2-DG. Glucose utilization values in the brain of the anesthesized ferret range from 33 μmol/100 g/min in the corpus callosum to 104 μmol/100 g/min in the caudate nucleus. Representative glucose utilization images of coronal sections of the ferret brain are shown. Brain structures are identified on the same slices counterstained with thionin.