Effect of glycerol and mannitol on the distribution of brain tissue water determined by differential calorimetric scanning analysis
Kawano, T.; Hirata, K.; Tsutsumi, K.; Miyake, H.; Kurihara, M.; Mori, K.
No Shinkei Geka. Neurological Surgery 20(3): 229-234
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0301-2603 PMID: 1557171 Document Number: 395532
To further clarify their mechanisms ad "dehydrators", the effect of glycerol and mannitol on the distribution of tissue water was studied by using differential scanning calorimetry. In normal rat brain, glycerol, 30 minutes after infusion, reduced, by a certain amount, the free water contents. However, mannitol had no effect on the amount of tissue water. In the focal ischemic model, produced by Tamura's method, glycerol reduced the free water contents in the perifocal brain tissue. As for the contralateral brain tissue, mannitol not glycerol, reduced the total water contents. Above findings suggest that the effect of glycerol is mainly to decrease free water fraction in the non ischemic brain tissue, while mannitol shows its effect through the decrease in produces in the extra-brain water fraction.