Binding kinetics at the benzodiazepine binding site of albumin have been determined as a function of age and fatty acid concentration in serum from 32 neonates (umbilical cord blood), 28 adults aged 23‐65 years and 24 adults aged 66‐101 years using fluorescence‐time curves obtained in a Durrum‐Gibson stopped‐flow apparatus and the specific marker ligand dansylsarcosine. The binding reaction can be described by a 2‐step mechanism characterised by four constants: the association rate constant k2 and dissociation rate constant k‐2 for the rate limiting step‐2; the affinity constant KA' for the formation of an unstable intermediate complex in step‐1; the affinity constant KA for the overall reaction. There were marked differences in k2 between the three groups of subjects with highest values occurring in neonates (mean: 296 s‐1), intermediate values in adults aged 23‐65 years (mean: 200 s‐1, P less than 0.001) and lowest values in adults aged 66‐101 years (mean: 144 s‐1, P less than 0.001). The dissociation rate constants (k‐2) averaged 18.5 s‐1 overall, showed only minor changes with increasing age and corresponded to dissociation half‐lives of 42 ms, 38 ms and 33 ms for neonates, adults 23‐65 years and adults 66‐101 years respectively. KA' in neonates and in the group of elderly subjects were lower than in adults aged 23‐65 years.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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