Cerebral glucose utilization during diazepam withdrawal in rats

Abstract

The diazepam withdrawal syndrome in rats was characterized behaviorally by an increase in spontaneous motor activity, slight body tremor and a lack of convulsions. The 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) technique was used to measure quantitatively cerebral glucose utilization during diazepam withdrawal and revealed changes in glucose utilization in 30% of the 54 structures evaluated. Areas of increased glucose utilization included medial geniculate, inferior colliculus, visual cortex, mammillary body, dorsal hippocampus, cerebellar flocculus, and zona reticulata and globus pallidus, olfactory cortex, nucleus accumbens and internal capsule. There was no single or consistent relationship between reported benzodiazepine receptor densities and glucose utilization.