Phosphorylated fructose compounds have been reported to lessen neuronal injury in in vitro models of hypoxia and in vivo models of ischemia. Although a variety of mechanisms have been proposed to account for this finding, it is unknown if intracellular uptake and incorporation of these compounds into the glycolytic pathway contribute to the benefit. We evaluated phosphorylated fructose administration in an adult rat model of transient, near-complete cerebral ischemia to determine its impact on brain metabolism before, during, and after ischemia. Fifty-four pentobarbital anesthetized rats were randomly assigned to receive IV infusions of either fructose-1,6-bisphosphate, fructose-2,6-bisphosphate, or 0.9% saline. After 2 hours of infusion, 18 rats (6/treatment group) were subjected to brain harvesting before any ischemia, 18 additional rats had brain harvesting at the completion of 10 minutes of forebrain ischemia (2-vessel occlusion plus induced hypotension), and 18 rats had harvesting after ischemia and 15 minutes of reperfusion. Cortical brain samples were analyzed for ATP, ADP, AMP, phosphocreatine, glucose, and glycogen. When compared with placebo, neither phosphorylated fructose compound altered preischemic, intraischemic, or postischemic concentrations of brain high-energy phosphates, glucose, glycogen, or lactate, nor did they influence the intraischemic metabolism of endogenous brain glucose or glycogen. On the basis of these results, we conclude that mechanisms other than augmented carbohydrate metabolism are responsible for previous reports of neuronal protection by the bisphosphonates.