ABSTRACT:The kinetics and mechanism by which tacrine is distributed in the rat brain were examined. Tacrine levels in plasma and striatal extracellular fluid were used to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of this process. The K D,brain was decreased with the dose for tacrine, indicating that the distribution to the brain is saturable. The uptake of organic cations such as choline, 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP), tetraethylammonium (TEA), and carnitine was inhibited by the addition of tacrine to cultures of mouse immortalized brain capillary endothelial cells. In addition, the apical to basal transport and basal to apical transport of tacrine were inhibited by the addition of organic cations to cultures of LLC-PK1 cells, suggesting that tacrine transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is mediated by organic cation transport system(s). Consistent with the in vitro results, a standard reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction procedure was able to amplify the message of mOCT2 and mOCTN2, but not mOCT1, in MBEC4 (mouse brain microvessel endothelial cell line 4) cells. Similarly, mRNAs for rOCT2 and rOCTN2 were present in representative rat brain samples. To determine whether OCT2 and/or OCTN2 transport tacrine, these transporters were cloned and then transfected in SK-HEP1 and HEK 293 cells. The uptake of choline, MPP, and TEA was inhibited by the presence of tacrine in rOCT2-expressing SK-HEP1 cells, whereas the uptake of carnitine was inhibited by the presence of tacrine in rOCTN2-expressing HEK 293 cells. Collectively, these observations suggest that the transport of tacrine across the BBB is mediated, at least in part, by multiple organic cation transport systems in rats.Cholinesterase inhibitors, such as tacrine (Fig. 1A) and donepezil, are clinically useful in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (Summers et al., 1986;Dooley and Lamb, 2000;Jann et al., 2002). Although these drugs are believed to be pharmacologically active as the result of their ability to stabilize neurotransmitters in the brain (Ogura et al., 2000;Jann et al., 2002), alternate mechanisms, e.g., the inhibition of -amyloid precursor protein secretion, may participate in the enhancement of memory in patients with Alzheimer's disease (Lahiri, 1994).Since the site of action for the cholinesterase inhibitors would be the brain, an understanding of the kinetic process(es) involved in the brain distribution would be essential for therapeutic optimization. Unfortunately, however, only limited literature information is available regarding the neuropharmacokinetics of these cholinesterase inhibitors. For example, in a study involving the administration of radiolabeled tacrine to the rat, the radioactivity associated with the brain was found to be at least comparable to or higher than that found in the plasma (McNally et al., 1989), suggesting that carrier-mediated transport system(s) may be involved in the penetration of tacrine across the BBB. However, since radioactivity does not necessarily represent intact tacrine levels in the plasma a...