Two-compartment model for plasma pharmacokinetics in individual blood vessels

Plasma pharmacokinetics of sodium fluorescein, fluorescein isothiocyanate conjugated bovine serum albumin, and a graded series of dextrans of 19,400 to 71,800 MW were monitored continuously using a noninvasive photometric technique in individual blood vessels of tissue grown in a rabbit ear chamber. The data obtained were fitted with a two-compartment open model to obtain an effective permeability and an effective clearance. Both parameters decreased with increasing molecular radius for dextrans. Values for albumin were considerably less than expected on the basis of molecular radius, presumably due to the configuration, charge, and binding characteristics of albumin.