We have studied the developmental changes of glucose, mannose, fructose and
galactose metabolism in rat cerebral cortex. As the animals aged, glucose,
mannose and fructose oxidation to CO2 increased, whereas galactose oxidati
on decreased. Lipid synthesis from glucose and fructose also increased with
age, that from mannose decreased and galactose did not change. Cytochalasi
n B, a potent non-competitive inhibitor of sodium-independent glucose trans
port, significantly impaired glucose, mannose and galactose metabolism, but
had no effect on fructose metabolism. Both galactose or fructose did not c
hange, whereas mannose declined the glucose metabolism. Glucose decreased f
ructose, galactose and mannose metabolism. Our results show that besides gl
ucose, the metabolism of mannose, galactose and fructose present developmen
tal changes from fetal to adult age, and reinforce the literature data indi
cating that mannose and galactose are transported by glucose carriers, whil
e fructose is not.