• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.223-228
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• 1990

The contribution of endogenous transport systems to the blood-brain barrier (BBB) transport of basic and acidic drugs was studied by using a carotid injection technique in rats and an isolated bovine cerebrovascular disease state were compared between the normotensive rats (WKY) and stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) which have been well established as an animal model with pathogenic similarities to humans. Basic drugs such as eperisone, thiamine and scopolamine inhibited, in a concentration dependent manner the in vivo uptake of $[{^3}H]choline$ through BBB, whereas amino acids and acidic drugs such as salicylic acid and valproic acid did not inhibit the uptake. The uptake of $[^3H]choline$ by B-CAP increased with time and showed a remarkable temperature dependency. The uptake of $[^3H]choline$ by B-CAP showed the very similar inhibitory effects as observed in the in vivo brain uptake, and was competitively inhibited by a basic drug, eperisone. The in vivo BBB uptakes of $[^3H]acetic$ acid and $[^{14}C]salicylic$ acid were dependent on pH of the injectate and the concentration of drugs. Several acidic drugs such such as salicylic acid, benzoic acid and valproic acid inhibited the in vivo uptake of $[^3H]acetic$ acid, whereas amino acid, choline and a basic drug such as eperisone did not inhibit the uptake. The uptake of acetic acid by B-CAP was competitively inhibited by salicylic acid. The permeability surface area product (PS) through BBB for $[^3H]choline$ in SHRSP was significantly lower than that in WKY. The concentration of choline in the brain dialysate in SHRSP was about half of that in WKY, while no significant difference was observed in the plasma concentration of choline between SHRSP and WKY. No significant difference was observed in the transport of monocarboxylic acids, glucose and neutral amino acid through BBB between SHRSP and WKY. From these results, it was concluded that BBB transport system of choline contributes to the transport of basic drugs through BBB, that acidic drugs can be transported via a moncarboxylic acid BBB transport system and that the specific dysfuntion of the BBB choline transport in SHRSP was ascribed to the reduction of the maximum velocity of choline concentration in the brain interstitial fluids.