AJP - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, Vol 259, Issue 5 1083-R1085, Copyright © 1990 by American Physiological Society
Different in vivo metabolic activities of suprachiasmatic nuclei of Turkish and golden hamsters
W. J. Schwartz
Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester 01655.
The 14C-labeled 2-deoxy-D-glucose technique was used to measure in vivo
glucose utilization of the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of Turkish and
golden hamsters during the middle hours of the light phase of the 12:12 h
light-dark cycle. The nuclei were clearly visible on autoradiographs made
from the brains of Turkish hamsters, and their rate of glucose utilization
(69 +/- 6 mumol.100 g-1.min-1) was similar to that previously measured in
other rodents, whereas the nuclei were hardly visible on autoradiographs
from golden hamsters, and their rate (33 +/- 2 mumol.100 g-1.min-1) was
less than half this value. Thus the high energy metabolism characteristic
of the SCN of most species is not required for the circadian pacemaker in
the nuclei to generate its oscillation.
