A B S T R A C T These studies were undertaken to investigate (a) the permeability properties of the bloodbrain barrier (BBB) to the major gonadal and adrenal steroid hormones, and (b) the role of the binding proteins of plasyna (albumin and specific globulins) in the regulation of BBB steroid hormone transport.The testosterone, 85+1%; estradiol, 83+3%; corticosterone, 39±2%; aldosterone, 3.5±0.8%; and cortisol, 1.4±0.3%. The selective permeability of the BBB was inversely related to the number of hydrogen bonds each steroid formed in aqueous solution and directly related to the respective I-octanol/Ringer's partition coefficient.When the bolus injection was 67% human serum, >95% of the labeled steroid was bound as determined by equilibrium dialysis. However, the influx of the steroids through the BBB was inhibited by human serum to a much less extent than would be expected if only the free (dialyzable) hormone was transported; progesterone, estradiol, testosterone, and corticosterone transport was inhibited 18, 47, 70, and 85% respectively, or in proportion to the steroid binding to plasma globulins. Rat serum (67%) only inhibited the transport of these four hormones, 0, 13, 12, and 69%, respectively, reflecting the absence of a sex hormone-binding globu- KD(app), to the in vitro KD was: >200 for progesterone, >200 for testosterone, 120 for estradiol, and 7.7 for corticosterone. Assuming the steady-state condition, the KD(app)/KD was found to be proportional to the BBB permeability for each steroid.These data demonstrate (a) the selective permeability properties ofthe BBB to the major steroid hormones is proportional to the tendency ofthe steroid to partition in a polar lipid phase and is inversely related to the number of hydrogen bond-forming functional groups on the steroid nucleus; (b) the presence of albumin in serum may bind considerable quantities of steroid hormone, but exerts little inhibitory effects on the transport of steroids into brain, whereas globulin-bound hormone does not appear to be transported into brain to a significant extent. Therefore, the hormone fraction in plasma that is available for transport into brain is not restricted to the free (dialyzable) fraction, but includes the larger albumin-bound moiety.