PET O-15 cerebral blood flow and metabolism after acute stroke in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Abstract Hypertension is a major stroke risk factor and is correlated with worse outcome after stroke. Thus, the effects of hypertension on cerebral hemodynamics and metabolism within an hour after stroke must be evaluated in detail. Cerebral blood flow (CBF), oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen (CMRO 2 ) and cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRglc) were measured 1 h after the occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) in male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and male normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY). Physiological responses were determined by positron emission tomography (PET) using 15 O-H 2 O and radiolabeled 15 O-O 2 blood (methodology previously developed in this laboratory) and by autoradiography (ARG) using 18 F-FDG. The right hemisphere of SHR showed lower CBF values than the left hemisphere after stroke (right: 0.17 ± 0.07 mL/min/g; left: 0.29 ± 0.08 mL/min/g), CMRO 2 (right: 2.55 ± 0.80 mL/min/100 g; left: 4.11 ± 0.84 mL/min/100 g) and CMRglc (right: 52.4 ± 16.2 mg/min/100 g; left: 65.6 ± 10.2 mg/min/100 g). WKY rats exhibited significant decreases only in CBF and CMRO 2 . These results suggest greater underlying physiologic disturbances in SHR. Also, the occlusion significantly reduced CBF in both hemispheres of SHR compared with WKY, suggesting a disturbance of the autoregulatory mechanism in SHR. In summary, our results indicate that hypertension intensifies metabolic disturbances after the onset of stroke, at least in the first hour. Therefore, we suggest that hypertension not only increases the incidence of stroke but also exacerbates stroke-mediated damage.