The transport of para-aminohippuric acid by the ciliary body and by the iris of the primate eye.

Para-aminohippuric acid (PAH) accumulates against a concentration gradient in the ciliary body and independently in the iris of the rhesus monkey eye. This accumulation is inhibited by incubation of 0 degrees C and shows saturation kinetics in both tissues. Cyanide, ouabain, dinitrophenol, iodopyracet, and probenecid effectively depress PAH uptake in both tissues, but anaerobic incubation conditions have little effect on uptake in either tissue. The washout of preaccumulated PAH occurs 2.5 times faster from the iris than from the ciliary body. The effects on washout of 10(-4)M PAH, 0 degrees C, and 10(-5)M dinitrophenol are consistent with washout occurring by a diffusional mechanism in both tissues, with some reaccumulation occurring in the ciliary body only. In addition, nonsaturable uptake of PAH, studied in both tissues under high PAH concentrations, also occurs significantly faster in the iris than in the ciliary body. The kinetic analysis of active PAH uptake in both tissues is discussed in terms of initial uptake and in terms of a steady-state model. This steady-state model compensates for some technical problems in applying in vitro incubation techniques to primate tissues and also includes a correction for the additional exchange processes that affect the two tissues differently. Results of the kinetic analysis suggest that, at least to an order of magnitude, iris uptake is significant with respect to ciliary body uptake.