Enhanced delivery and sustained release of estradiol (E2) in the brain could have potential clinical applications in the effective treatment of vasomotor "hot flushes" and prostatic cancer. We have, therefore, evaluated a brain-enhanced E2-chemical delivery system (E2-CDS), which is based upon the interconvertible dihydropyridine in equilibrium with pyridinium salt redox reaction. In this study, we evaluated the tissue distributions of E2-Q+ and E2--the inactive and active metabolites of the E2-CDS. Both E2-Q+ and E2 were detected in all tissues analyzed. In peripheral tissues, E2-Q+ and E2 were rapidly cleared, but in brain, concentrations of both compounds exhibited a slow decline with a t1/2 = 8 days. 14 Days after the E2-CDS administration, brain levels of E2-Q+ exceeded plasma levels by 170-fold, fat levels by 20-fold, and liver levels by 8-fold. Similarly, brain-E2 levels exceeded plasma levels by 38-fold, fat levels by 11-fold, and liver levels by 7-fold. Furthermore, levels of E2-Q+ In anterior pituitary, kidney, heart, and lung were initially 2- to 6-fold higher than brain levels, but 14 days after the E2-CDS administration, brain levels of E2-Q+ exceeded E2-Q+ levels in these peripheral tissues by 1.5- to 3-fold. The increased brain/peripheral tissues ratios of E2-Q+ and E2 in rats treated with the E2-CDS support brain-enhanced delivery and sustained release of E2 from this delivery system.