TY - JOUR
T1 - Oxidative metabolism of astrocytes is not reduced in hepatic encephalopathy
T2 - a PET study with [(11)C]acetate in humans
AU - Iversen, Peter
AU - Mouridsen, Kim
AU - Hansen, Mikkel B
AU - Jensen, Svend B
AU - Sørensen, Michael
AU - Bak, Lasse Kristoffer
AU - Waagepetersen, Helle S
AU - Schousboe, Arne
AU - Ott, Peter
AU - Vilstrup, Hendrik
AU - Keiding, Susanne
AU - Gjedde, Albert
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - In patients with impaired liver function and hepatic encephalopathy (HE), consistent elevations of blood ammonia concentration suggest a crucial role in the pathogenesis of HE. Ammonia and acetate are metabolized in brain both primarily in astrocytes. Here, we used dynamic [11C]acetate PET of the brain to measure the contribution of astrocytes to the previously observed reduction of brain oxidative metabolism in patients with liver cirrhosis and HE, compared to patients with cirrhosis without HE, and to healthy subjects. We used a new kinetic model to estimate uptake from blood to astrocytes and astrocyte metabolism of [11C]acetate. No significant differences of the rate constant of oxidation of [11C]acetate (k3) were found among the three groups of subjects. The net metabolic clearance of [11C]acetate from blood was lower in the group of patients with cirrhosis and HE than in the group of healthy subjects (P<0.05), which we interpret to be an effect of reduced cerebral blood flow rather than a reflection of low [11C]acetate metabolism. We conclude that the characteristic decline of whole-brain oxidative metabolism in patients with cirrhosis with HE is not due to malfunction of oxidative metabolism in astrocytes. Thus, the observed decline of brain oxidative metabolism implicates changes of neurons and their energy turnover in patients with HE.
AB - In patients with impaired liver function and hepatic encephalopathy (HE), consistent elevations of blood ammonia concentration suggest a crucial role in the pathogenesis of HE. Ammonia and acetate are metabolized in brain both primarily in astrocytes. Here, we used dynamic [11C]acetate PET of the brain to measure the contribution of astrocytes to the previously observed reduction of brain oxidative metabolism in patients with liver cirrhosis and HE, compared to patients with cirrhosis without HE, and to healthy subjects. We used a new kinetic model to estimate uptake from blood to astrocytes and astrocyte metabolism of [11C]acetate. No significant differences of the rate constant of oxidation of [11C]acetate (k3) were found among the three groups of subjects. The net metabolic clearance of [11C]acetate from blood was lower in the group of patients with cirrhosis and HE than in the group of healthy subjects (P<0.05), which we interpret to be an effect of reduced cerebral blood flow rather than a reflection of low [11C]acetate metabolism. We conclude that the characteristic decline of whole-brain oxidative metabolism in patients with cirrhosis with HE is not due to malfunction of oxidative metabolism in astrocytes. Thus, the observed decline of brain oxidative metabolism implicates changes of neurons and their energy turnover in patients with HE.
U2 - 10.3389/fnins.2014.00353
DO - 10.3389/fnins.2014.00353
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 25404890
SN - 1662-4548
VL - 8
SP - 353
JO - Frontiers in Neuroscience
JF - Frontiers in Neuroscience
ER -