Effect of Lactate on FMRI Responses Under Hypoglycemia

Lihong Jiang¹, Basavaraju G. Sanganahalli¹, Peter Herman¹, Raimund Herzog¹, Robert Sherwin¹, Fahmeed Hyder¹, Douglas Rothman¹, Kevin Behar¹

We investigated BOLD responses to forepaw stimulation under insulin-induced acute hypoglycemic condition, as well as effect of lactate infusion under hypoglycemia condition. All high field fMRI experiments were conducted in α-chloralose anesthetized rats. The magnitude of the BOLD response in primary somatosensory (S1_FL) region decreased from euglycemic to hypoglycemic conditions. Upon lactate infusion, under hypoglycemic condition, transiently increased S1 activities, but also recruited regions beyond S1_FL. These results will benefit the understanding of brain function and metabolism, as well as the role of alternative fuels under hypoglycemic condition.