Uptake of barbituric acid derivatives in small intestinal brush border membrane vesicles from retinyl palmitate-treated rats.

Brush border membrane was prepared from the small intestinal (jejunum) cells along the crypt-villus axis. The fluorescence spectra of 1,8-anilinonaphthalene sulfonic acid and the steady-state fluorescence anisotropy of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene were measured in the brush border membrane vesicle suspension. The hydrophobicity of brush border membrane was found to be in the order villus tip >mid villus >lower villus. The fluidity of brush border membrane was in the order villus tip <mid villus <lower villus. The uptake of barbituric acid derivatives by brush border membrane vesicles was well correlated with their partition coefficients (isopentyl acetate/water). No significant difference was observed between the uptake of hexobarbital by brush border membrane vesicles from the villus tip and lower villus. When retinyl palmitate was administered to rats, the fluidity of brush border membrane was found to be higher in the retinyl palmitate-treated rats than in the control rats. However, no significant difference in the uptake of hexobarbital by brush border membrane vesicles was observed between the retinyl palmitate-administered rats and the control rats. Thus, the retinyl palmitate treatment seems unlikely to affect the passively transported ligands like barbituric acid derivatives in brush border membrane vesicles.