The permeability of the blood-brain barrier to [tyrosyl-3,5-3H]enkephalin-(5-L-leucine) (abbreviated to Leu-Enk) and of its synthetic analogue D-alanine2-[tyrosyl-3,5-3H]enkephalin-(5-D-leucine) (abbreviated to D-Ala2-D-Leu5-Enk) was studied, in the adult rat, by means of Oldendorf's27 intracarotid injection technique. The brain uptake index (BUI) corrected for residual vascular radioactivity was about the same for both peptides, indicating a low extraction from the blood during a 5- or 15-s period of exposure to the peptides. Transport of Leu-Enk was not saturated by unlabelled Enk at a concentration as high as 5 mM but was completely abolished by 5mM tyrosine and by the inhibitor of aminopeptidase activity, bacitracin (2 mM). Also the typical L-transport system substrate, 2-aminobicyclo(2,2,1)heptane-2 carboxylic acid (BCH)9 at 10 mM concentration markedly reduced (by 80%) Leu-Enk uptake by the brain. In contrast, brain uptake of D-Ala2-D-Leu5-Enk was reduced only to about one-half of its control value by bacitracin or by 25% by BCH. Brain uptake for L-tyrosine was typically large and markedly inhibited by BCH but not inhibited by 5 mM unlabelled Leu-Enk. These results show that the measurable but low first-pass extractions for enkephalins are not representative of the uptake of these peptides into the brain, but rather reflect their extreme sensitivity to enzymatic degradation with a release of the N-terminal tyrosine residue. The results also suggest that small amounts of D-Ala2-D-Leu5-Enk might cross the blood-brain barrier in an intact form.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)