Subcellular distribution of weak acids and bases in adrenal medulla

1. Studies of the subcellular distribution of two acids and three bases in adrenal medulla support the hypothesis that the charge on a drug molecule is an important factor determining its subcellular distribution in this tissue. 2. Acidic drugs carrying a negative charge do not bind well to adrenomedullary subcellular particles and accumulate predominantly in cell supernatant. 3. Basic drugs tend to bind more extensively to adrenomedullary intracellular organelles and distribute more uniformly over all subcellular fractions.