Abstract
It is reported that administration of ethyl pyruvate (EP) improves the cellular and organ function in ischemia. In rat brain slices (400 μm-thick) superfused with standard artificial cerebrospinal fluid (ACSF) and bubbled with 95% O2 and 5% CO2 gas mixture at 25°C, we investigated effects of EP on high energy phosphate and inorganic phosphate (Pi) after ischemia using 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The brain slices were exposed to hypoxia by stopping the perfusion pump for 1 hour, followed by the reperfusion with normal ACSF (control group) or ACSF with 2mM EP (EP group). Creatine phosphate (PCr) level was significantly lower in the EP group than in the control group one hour after the reperfusion (52±2% vs. 49±3%, p<0.05), but there was no difference between them two hours after the reperfusion. During the reperfusion period, PCr/γ-ATP ratio remained relatively unchanged in the EP group compared with the control group, and PCr/Pi ratio was significantly larger in the EP group (0.76±0.12, 0.35±0.05, respectively, p<0.05). These results indicate a protective effect of EP on energy metabolism of brain tissue exposed to ischemia. EP is a potent free radical scavenger during the reperfusion and this effect might be protective of the damage due to the reperfusion in the brain. [J Physiol Sci. 2006;56 Suppl:S241]
