title: Increased blood-brain barrier permeability of amino acids in chronic hypertension.
abstract: A previous communication from this laboratory reported that brain uptake of libenzapril, a small polar molecule, was enhanced in chronic hypertension (1). The objective of this investigation was to determine if this was a more generalized phenomenon. Therefore, experiments were undertaken to examine the effect of chronic hypertension on the brain uptake of tryptophan (an amino acid with high brain permeability) and glutamic acid (one with low permeability). Brain concentrations of these two amino acids were 5- to 12-fold greater in chronic hypertensive rats, as compared to normotensive rats; the corresponding brain uptake index (BUI) values were 2- to 5-fold higher in the former group. Since blood-brain barrier transport of amino acids involve both saturable (carrier) and non-saturable (most likely, diffusion via pores) mechanisms, data from this study show that hypertension can enhance BBB transport of amino acids by affecting one or both of these pathways.
authors.affiliation: School of Pharmacy, University of Missouri-Kansas City 64108.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Z Q
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Douglas
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rakhit
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Melethil
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002463:Cell Membrane Permeability; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000378:metabolism; D005971:Glutamates / Q000378:metabolism*; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D006973:Hypertension / Q000378:metabolism*; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000378:metabolism; D009928:Organ Specificity; D011149:Pons / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D011918:Rats, Inbred SHR / Q000378:metabolism*; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley / Q000378:metabolism; D014364:Tryptophan / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D005971:Glutamates; D018698:Glutamic Acid; D014364:Tryptophan