Blood-brain barrier transport of choline is reduced in the aged rat.

An age-related impairment in choline transport across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) may contribute to the cholinergic mechanisms of geriatric memory dysfunction. To test this hypothesis, the brain choline uptake in male Fisher 344 rats at 2, 18 and 24 months of age was studied using the Oldendorf technique. The Vmax of choline transport in the 24-month-old rats (0.05 +/- 0.04 nmol/min/g) was significantly lower than that in the 2-month-old rat (2.5 +/- 1.0 nmol/min/g) (P less than 0.05). The Km of transport in old rats (13 +/- 35 microM) was also significantly smaller than the value in 24-month-old rats (450 +/- 195 microM), while the constant of the non-saturable component of the transport, Kd, was not significantly different in older rats (1.2 +/- 0.3 vs 0.6 +/- 0.1 microliter/min/g). These results indicate that the carrier in old rats has reduced capacity and increased affinity to choline. The reduced choline carrier capacity explains the significant decrease in BBB choline transport in aged rats.