Metabolic profiles of canine cerebrovascular tree: a histochemical study.

Intriguing questions have recently been raised regarding the applicability of direct observations of the pial microcirculation to the behavior of the total cerebral microcirculation. Operating under the assumption that arteriolar tone and, thus, cerebrovascular resistance is, to some extent, directly related to the intrinsic energy metabolism of the arteriolar wall, a comparative histochemical analysis of cerebral microvessels, both pial and parenchymal, was undertaken. Reactions were chosen on the bases of representation of substrate and of enzymes of glycolysis, the hexose monophosphate shunt, beta-oxidation of fat, Krebs cycle, cytochrome system and ATP hydrolysis. Three metabolically distinct segments of the cerebral microvasculature were delineated with the pial vessels showing strong capacities for glycolysis, beta-oxidation of fats and utilization of glucose through the hexose monophosphate shunt. Microvessels of the gray matter have a qualitatively similar metabolic profile but the capacities of each pathway are lower when compared to pial arterioles. Arterioles of the white matter demonstrate the weakest energy-yielding capacities.