Using hepatocytes isolated by collagenase perfusion, we studied the accumulation of 3H-noradrenaline. Cells incubated during 15 min in the presence of 0.4 mumol/l 3H-noradrenaline (without inhibition of noradrenaline metabolism) accumulated 8.32 +/- 1.77 pmol/10(6) cells (n = 3). The accumulation of 3H-noradrenaline in isolated parenchymal liver cells was sensitive to 10 mumol/l cocaine (inhibition 36.6 +/- 7.9%, n = 3) and 1 mumol/l desipramine (inhibition 27.2 +/- 6.9, n = 3). Accumulation of 3H-noradrenaline was temperature and sodium dependent (inhibition 33.2 +/- 9.4%, n = 9, when Na+ was replaced by Tris+) and was influenced by the inhibition of the membrane Na(+)-K(+)-adenosine triphosphatase (Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase) by 150 mumol/l ouabain (34.7 +/- 6.9% inhibition, n = 3). Accumulation of 3H-noradrenaline in the hepatocytes was not affected by the presence of uptake2 inhibitors, normetanephrine (30 mumol/l) and corticosterone (30 mumol/l), but was reduced by 30 mumol/l isoprenaline (76.3 +/- 5.0% inhibition, n = 6). Thus, the system that takes up and accumulates noradrenaline in the isolated rat liver cells possesses some characteristics of both, uptake1 and uptake2 systems and appears to be different from other extraneuronal cocaine-sensitive systems, such as the one reported for pulmonary endothelial cells.