Permeability of brain structures and other peripheral tissues to prostaglandins D2, E2 and F2 alpha in rats

Parenchymal tissue-uptake (TU) and permeability-surface area (PS) product of [3H]prostaglandins (PG) D2, E2 and F2 alpha [1.85 MBq, 0.5 mg/kg (270 nmol)] were examined in 98 regions of the brain and in 19 other tissues of urethane-anesthetized male rats (180-200 g) 15 sec after i.v. administration with [14C]dextran [0.185 MBq, 0.6 mg/kg (2 nmol)] used as a blood spacer. Slight and insignificant change in blood volume was observed in most of the tissues and brain regions between vehicle- and PG-administered groups. TU for the three PG was markedly high in kidney and lung (2388-3952 ng/g), exceeding the blood concentration (2021-2320 ng/ml), but low (less than 10% of the blood concentration) in epididymis, epididymal fat, testis (59-163 ng/g), brain and spinal cord (33-67 ng/g). TU in brain were detected about 0.1% of the administered PG. Based on a two-compartment model, the PS product for the three PG ranged from 0.75 to 4.16 microliters/g/sec in the latter tissues. The value of brain was 1.22 +/- 0.18 microliters/g/sec for PGD2, 1.69 +/- 0.05 for PGE2 and 1.33 +/- 0.13 for PGF2 alpha, indicating that PGE2 enters the brain more readily than PGD2 and PGF2 alpha. In various brain structures, the ranges of the PS product were large and completely overlapped among the three PG (PGD2, 0.14-1.56 microliters/g/sec; PGE2, 0.05-1.78; PGF2 alpha, 0.05-1.82). The highest PS product for the three PG was found in olfactory bulb and cerebellum (0.96-1.82 microliters/g/sec) and the lowest was in septum (0.05-0.53). However, the level of the PS product was different among the PG in each brain region as follows: PGD2 greater than PGE2, PGF2 alpha in septum and anterior part of pyriform cortex; PGE2 greater than PGD2, PGF2 alpha in olfactory bulb, frontal cortex, basal forebrain, middle part of pyriform cortex, thalamus, hippocampus and lateral neocortex; and PGF2 alpha greater than PGD2, PGE2 in posterior part of pyriform cortex, hypothalamus, amygdala and entorhinal and retrosplenial cortices. Low correlation coefficients (0.708, 0.522 and 0.562 for PGD2, PGE2 and PGF2 alpha, respectively) between the PS product and cerebrovascular volume in various regions revealed heterogeneous cerebrovascular permeabilities of PG.