The diffusion permeability to water of the rat blood-brain barrier

The diffusion permeability to water of the rat blood-brain-barrier (BBB) was studied. Preliminary data obtained with the Oldendorf tissue uptake method (Oldendorf 1970) in seizure experiments suggested that the transfer from blood to brain of labelled water is diffusion-limited. More definite evidence of such a limitation was obtained using the single injection technique of Crone (1963). 14-C-labelled sucrose was used as intravascular reference substance and tritium-labelled water as test substance. The non-exchanging (transmitted) fraction, I-E equals T, of labelled water during a single passage increased from 0.26 to 0.67 when the arterial carbon dioxide tension was changed from 15 to 85 mm Hg, a change increasing the cerebral blood flow about sixfold. This finding suggests that water does not pass the blood-brain barrier as freely as lipophilic gases.