The kinetics of the uptake from blood to brain of pyruvate, lactate and glucose have been determined in rats of different ages. The carotid artery single injection technique was used in animals anaesthetized with pentobarbital. The rates of influx for each substrate were determined over a range of concentrations for the different age-groups. Data were analysed in terms of the Michaelis-Menten equation with a component to allow for non-saturable diffusion. Values are given for K , . V,,, and K,. In suckling rats (15-21 days) the V,,, values for both pyruvate and lactate were 2.0pmolg-' min-'. In 28-day-old rats the V,,, values had fallen to one-half and in adults they were less than one-tenth. K , values were higher in the younger animals. The rate of glucose transport in suckling

Labeled morphine, codeine, heroin, or methadone was injected as a bolus into the common carotid artery of the rat, and the rat was decapitated 15 seconds later. The brain uptake of the drug was calculated by measurement of the brain content of the drug as a percentage of a labeled, highly diffusible reference substance simultaneously injected. The uptake of morphine was below measurability; the uptake of codeine was 24 percent; heroin, 68 percent; and methadone, 42 percent. Brain uptakes of morphine and codeine were also studied after intravenous injection and correlated well with uptakes after carotid injection; the uptake of codeine being nearly complete by 30 seconds. These studies indicate that brain uptake of certain of these drugs is very rapid and that uptake of heroin injected intravenously is probably limited by the regional flow of blood in the brain. The possible relation of this rapid penetration of the blood-brain barrier by heroin to its strongly addictive properties is discussed.

Abstract— Blood‐brain barrier (BBB) transport of choline and certain choline analogs was studied in adult and suckling rats, and additionally compared in the paleocortex and neocortex of adult rats. Saturable uptake was characterized by a single kinetic system in all cases examined, and in adult rat forebrains we determined a Km= 442 ± 60 μM and Vmax= 10.0 ± 0.6 nmol min‐1 g‐1. In 14–15‐day‐old suckling forebrains a similar Km (= 404 ± 88 μM) but higher Vmax (= 12.5 ± 1.5 nmol min‐1 g‐1) was determined. When choline uptake was compared in two regions of the forebrain, similar Michaelis‐Menten constants were determined but a higher uptake velocity was found in the neocortex (i.e. neocortex Km= 310 ± 103 μM and Vmax= 12.6 ± 2.8 nmol min‐1g‐1; paleocortex Km= 217 ± 76 μM and Vmax= 7.2 ± 1.5 nmol min‐1 g‐1). Administration of radiolabelled choline at low (5 μM) and high (100 μM) concentrations, followed by microwave fixation 60 s later and chloroform‐methanol‐water separations of the homogenized brain did not suggest a relationship between concentration and the appearance of label in lipid or aqueous fractions as observed in another in‐vitro study elaborating two‐component kinetics of choline uptake. It was observed that 60s after carotid injection 12–14% of the radiolabel in the ipsilateral cortex was found in the chloroform‐soluble fraction. Hemicholinium‐3 (Ki= 111 μM), dimethylaminoethanol (Ki= 42 μM), tetraethyl ammonium chloride, tetramethyl ammonium chloride, 2‐hydroxyethyl triethylammonium iodide, carnitine, normal rat serum, and to a lesser extent lithium and spermidine all inhibited choline uptake in the BBB. Unsubstituted ammonium chloride and imipramine did not inhibit choline uptake. No difference was observed in blood‐brain barrier choline uptake of unanesthetised, carotid artery‐catheterized animals, and comparable sodium pentobarbital‐anesthetized controls.

In the present study we examine the influence of pH, palmitate, and neutral amino acids on the passage of tryptophan from blood into brain during a single capillary pass, and on the partitioning of tryptophan between free and albumin-bound forms. The results show that a considerable fraction of albumin-bound tryptophan is stripped from albumin sites during passage, that uptake is concentration-dependent, and that amino acid competition for carrier sites is quantitatively the most important factor in regulating tryptophan uptake into brain. The interaction between tryptophan concentration, tryptophan binding, and competing amino acids is of considerable influence on brain serotonin biosynthesis.of the relative importance of these factors in influencing brain tryptophan concentration. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials.