The entry of glucose from blood into the brain through the blood-brain barrier relies on glucose transporters (GLUT). GLUT1 is the major GLUT in the blood-brain barrier and one of the molecular markers of the endothelial cells of brain capillaries. It has been demonstrated that GLUT1 expression is increased after acute cerebral ischemia in animal models. GLUT1 level in brain tissue from 7 cases of chronic ischemic cerebrovascular diseases (ICVD) were determined and compared with that from 11 cases of the age- and postmortem interval- matched controls. It was found that GLUT1 level was decreased markedly in ICVD, and this decrease appeared to result from a down-regulation of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α). It was also found that the level of protein O-GlcNAcylation was not altered in the ICVD brain. These results shed new light into the molecular mechanism of ICVD.