Among the drug-metabolizing enzymes present in the rat brain, one form of UDP-glucuronyltransferase catalyzes the formation of the polar metabolite 1-naphthyl-beta-D-glucuronide from 1-naphthol. We measured the activity of this isoform in different brain regions and showed its heterogeneous distribution. Conjugation activities were found to be the highest in the olfactory bulbs (25.4 nmol/h/mg protein) and lowest in the cerebellum (4.5 nmol/h/mg protein). As the blood-brain barrier prevents the passage of hydrosoluble molecules, we studied in vivo the characteristics of the efflux of labeled 1-naphthyl-beta-D-glucuronide injected into the lateral ventricle and the cortex tissue, using tritiated water and labeled inulin as reference compounds. The results reported here indicate that intracerebrally formed glucuronide is cleared from brain tissue by both diffusion and a saturable efflux process.