TY - JOUR T1 - THE UPTAKE AND DISTRIBUTION OF <sup>14</sup>C-MESCALINE IN DIFFERENT ORGANS OF DEVELOPING RAT JF - Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO - Drug Metab Dispos SP - 74 LP - 79 VL - 3 IS - 2 AU - NANDKUMAR S. SHAH AU - K. R. SHAH AU - R. S. LAWRENCE AU - A. E. NEELY Y1 - 1975/03/01 UR - http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/3/2/74.abstract N2 - Rats of 1, 4, 8, 12, 20, and 60 days postnatal age were injected ip with 14C-mescaline (50 nCi/g). The levels of mescaline and its deaminated metabolite, 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenylacetic acid, were examined in the brain, liver, heart, spleen, lung, and kidney at 30, 60, 90, and 120 min. Mescaline was rapidly taken up by all of the organs examined. In general, the organs of younger rats accumulated much larger amounts than those of adult animals. Brain concentrated the lowest amounts in comparison with other tissues. In the brain, the uptake was the highest in 1-day-old rats and decreased with age. The disappearance of mescaline in various organs was comparatively slower in younger animals than in 20-day or older rats. Rats immediately after birth and up to 20 days of age metabolized mescaline less efficiently than adults. From the data, it appears that the blood-brain barrier for mescaline develops gradually with age but is not completely impermeable in adults. Copyright © 1975 by The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics ER -