Cellular metabolism, temperature and brain injury

Brain temperature is strongly linked to brain metabolic rate. In the brain, energy metabolism is mainly oxidative. The oxidative metabolism and heat production are therefore strongly related. In normal conditions, heat production consecutive to brain energy metabolism is counterbalanced by heat loss, by using a complex heat exchange system. After major cerebral injuries as subarachnoid haemorrhage or traumatic brain injury, cerebral temperature can often exceed systemic temperature. Moreover, brain temperature can vary independently to systemic temperature, making difficult the prediction of brain temperature from other central temperatures.. Mitochondrial dysfunction is probably the corner stone of these post-injury perturbations of brain temperature. Understanding of this phenomenon remains however not complete. (C) 2009 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.