Therapeutic Blood Glucose Control Effects Cerebral Glycolysis Following Traumatic Brain Injury

Stephanie M. Wolahan¹, David McArthur¹, Paul Vespa¹, Neil A. Martin¹, Thomas C. Glenn¹

Managing glucose after traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major concern and the effect of two glycemic control strategies (tight vs. loose) on TBI patients are compared. We hypothesize that cerebral glucose is metabolized differently depending on plasma glucose levels and that lactate is increasingly metabolized when systemic glucose is low. Results show that when glucose is kept low (tight glycemic control) there is increased glycolytic glucose metabolism but less lactate released into the blood than when glucose is at higher levels. This supports the theory that the injured brain generates energy from lactate when systemic glucose is low.