THE RATE OF PENETRATION OF BARBITURIC ACID DERIVATIVES INTO THE BRAIN

¹ Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Following intravenous injection of barbital and hexethal (Ortal) in mice, concentrations of the drugs in the brain have been determined by ultraviolet spectrophotometric methods.

The concentration of barbital in the brain rises gradually for a considerable time after the injection. The increasing concentration corresponds closely with the increasing intensity of neurological effects.

Hexethal, which shows immediate onset of anesthetic effects, attains its maximal concentration in the brain within a very short time after the injection.

It is concluded that the wide differences among the 5,5-disubstituted derivatives of barbituric acid with respect to the rate at which their anesthetic effects develop after intravenous injection are attributable to differences in the rates of penetration of the drugs from the blood into the brain.

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