Abstract
The desirability of having available a physiologically normal fluid medium in which tissue slices may be immersed for the study of their metabolism is widely recognized. The use of serum as such a medium, though possible, presents technical complexities which preclude its wide application. It was suggested by Davis and Hastings 1 that cerebro-spinal fluid, being a protein-free biological fluid, had the advantages but not the disadvantages of serum. A comparison of the metabolism of liver in cerebro-spinal fluid and their standard synthetic solution indicated that oxygen consumption determinations made in the spinal fluid were greater than those made in their synthetic solution. These authors did not attempt to prepare a synthetic solution whose composition closely paralleled that of the spinal fluid.
The present communication is concerned with the metabolism of tissue slices in cerebro-spinal fluid and in a synthetic fluid medium whose essential inorganic constituents equalled in concentrations those of spinal fluid.
The indirect Warburg 2 technique was used throughout, making it possible to measure the consumption of oxygen, Qo2, and the production of carbon dioxide, QO2 CO 2. White rats of homogeneous strain were used in all experiments. The animals were killed by decapitation in a room maintained at 37°, the liver immediately sliced and placed in warmed salt solution. From this, they were transferred to their appropriate fluid medium and their metabolism measured at 38°. Observations were made at 15-minute intervals for a total of 75 minutes. The cerebro-spinal fluid used in the experiments was obtained through the kindness of the neurological services of the Boston City and Massachusetts General Hospitals, to whom the authors are indebted. The fluid was drawn under sterile precautions and kept refrigerated until used. Immediately before use, it was passed through a Berkefeld filter.
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