The present study describes quantitatively the pharmacokinetics of the antibacterial agents, ofloxacin and NY-198 (quinolonecarboxylic acid derivatives), in the central nervous system in rats by physiological modeling of the penetration, distribution and sequestration processes. The stimulation curves corresponded well with the observed concentrations in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and various brain regions after intravenous bolus administration. The estimated cerebrovascular diffusion clearances were considerably small compared with reported serum flow rates and similar among the brain parenchymal tissues examined. The distribution volume of each drug in each brain region was almost the same as the brain extracellular space (15 to 25% of the wet weight). It was also found that the Kp values of these drugs were similar among the various brain regions. These lines of evidence suggest that the antibacterial agents, ofloxacin and NY-198, localized only in the brain extracellular space and exhibited little region-specificity in distribution into the brain. Moreover, it was suggested from unexpectedly low CSF: serum concentration ratios after intravenous administration that these quinolones, which once diffused into CSF, could be sequestrated from CSF to blood via some transport system.