Biochemical Mechanisms of Cyclosporine Neurotoxicity

Energy production in the brain. The brain, in contrast to other organs, utilizes only glucose to produce ATP and lacks the enzyme for β-oxidation of fatty acids. Metabolism of one molecule of glucose produces thirty-six molecules ATP: Two ATP through cytosolic glycolysis, two ATP via the mitochondrial Krebs cycle, and thirty-two molecules through mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. LDH, lactate dehydrogenase; OAA, oxaloacetate; PC, pyruvate carboxylase; PDH, pyruvate dehydrogenase.