Fructose and Glucose Utilization by Lamb and Sheep Brain

Abstract

Fructose can be utilized by the mammalian brain in vitro as judged by oxygen uptake and by lactate production, although with some preparations lactate production was slower from fruotose than from gluoose (LoebeI1925; Diokens and Greville 1933; Edson and Leloir 1936; Geiger 1940; Klein 1944; Meyerhof and Wilson 1948). An increase in oxygen uptake by brain slices in vitro, during application of electrical pulses to the tissue, occurs when glucose is present in the medium; this also occurs when fructose is present in the medium, but higher concentrations of fructose than gluoose are needed for the same effeot (McIlwain 1953).