Magnetic resonance (MR) may be used for repeatedly and non-invasively imaging the brain. Until now, no studies have used this approach to study the effects of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in a defined animal model. Conscious, Levine-prepared female rats (unilateral carotid artery and jugular vein occlusion) were exposed to 2400 ppm CO for 90 min, with or without the infusion of 50% glucose solution; CO-stimulated increases in blood glucose and lactate occurred in both groups, while blood pressure and body temperature fell. One to four hours following termination of CO exposure, increased cortical pixel intensity, cortical surface area and brain midline shift were observed on the operated side of the brain in some rats of both groups (i.e. responders = R), providing evidence of edema. At sacrifice, 5 h following termination of CO exposure, gross water content was increased on the left side in the corresponding cortical slices in R rats, providing another measure of edema. Significant positive correlations were found between left to right pixel intensity difference and water content difference, and between the extent of midline shift and water content difference. The elevations of blood glucose and lactate concentrations, and the magnitudes of CO-induced hypothermia and hypotension were similar to those in past studies, but appeared to exert no effect on the severity of cortical edema in terms of differences in pixel intensity, surface area, midline shift or gross tissue water content. Thus, the observed differences between the R rats is not explained by the available data.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)