Glut1 Glucose Transporter Activity in Human Brain Injury

ABSTRACT The principal glucose transporter at the blood–brain barrier (BBB) is the Glut1 isoform, and transporter density is believed to be an index of cerebral metabolic rate. In the present study, glucose transporter expression was studied in tissue resected 7–8 h after acute traumatic brain injuries in 2 patients. Light microscopic immunochemistry indicated a zone of complete loss of the Glut1 glucose transporter isoform in microvessel endothelial cells adjacent to sites of small vessel injury, concentrically surrounded by a narrow zone of variable Glut1, and distally surrounded by capillaries with typically immunoreactive endothelia in nondisrupted parenchyma. Variably reactive capillaries displayed alternating sectors of greatly reduced and highly reactive Glut1 density, suggesting a high density and low density of transporter activity in contiguous endothelial cells. Quantitative electron microscopic immunogold analyses demonstrated that the transporter was predominantly localized to the luminal and...