THE REMOVAL OF BROMSULPHTHALEIN FROM BLOOD PLASMA BY THE LIVER OF THE RAT

¹ Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Louisiana State University, New Orleans, Louisiana

1. Rat livers can take up bromsulphthalein (BSP), either on perfusion or on incubation of tissue with solutions containing BSP.

2. BSP uptake proceeds unabated in the presence of CN^-, F^-₂, Hg⁺⁺ ions, and hence does not appear to involve metabolic reactions.

3. Dye taken up by the tissue can be recovered to the extent of 90 to 98 per cent in a form indistinguishable from BSP.

4. Other tissues are capable of taking up BSP on incubation nearly as actively as liver slices. However, the liver is much more effective than hindlimbs or heart in removing BSP from solutions perfused through the organ.

5. In the perfused liver, very efficient extraction of BSP is observed only from perfusate that has followed the normal circulatory path; transudate, or perfusate collected after damaging the vascular system of the liver by embolism or excessive inflow pressures have BSP concentrations that are as high as those of incubation supernatants.

6. CCl₄ poisoning or India ink injections, while reducing BSP clearance in vivo, do not significantly affect BSP uptake by liver slices or by perfused livers.

7. In the presence of bovine plasma albumin, BSP uptake in vitro is reduced in comparison with protein-free media. Saturation of dye uptake also is observed sooner under these conditions. Livers perfused with 5 per cent albumin solutions, will remove about 15 per cent of BSP from the perfusion solution during the first ten minute period.

8. Uptake by liver slices of other phthalein dyes has been studied. Phenolsulfonphthalein is the only one of these poorly taken up; also, it alone is but slightly bound by bovine plasma albumin.

9. The data have been discussed from the points of view of the mechanism of dye uptake, the structural factors underlying the efficient BSP uptake by the perfused liver, and the relation of the dye uptake in vitro to phenomena in the intact animal.

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