The complementary DNA for the human brain type glucose transporter (GLUT3) was used to determine its tissue specific expression in human, monkey, rabbit, rat, and mouse. Under high stringent conditions, 4.1 and 3.2 kilobase (kb) GLUT3 transcripts in monkey and a single 4.1 kb GLUT3 mRNA in rabbit, rat, and mouse were detected by RNA blot analysis. Although the GLUT3 transcripts were widely distributed, as are the erythrocyte type glucose transporter (GLUT1) transcripts, this mRNA is most abundant in the brain. However, the relative abundance of GLUT3 mRNA in the various regions of the monkey brain shows a different pattern from that of GLUT1 mRNA: GLUT3 is most highly expressed in the frontal lobe of the cerebrum, whereas GLUT1 is most abundant in the basal ganglia and the thalamus. Moderately higher GLUT3 mRNA levels were detected in the parietal lobe of the cerebrum, hippocampus, and cerebellum than the levels of GLUT1 transcripts. We also detected GLUT3 mRNA in adult human psoas major muscle, although it has been reported that the GLUT3 gene is scarcely expressed in adult human skeletal muscle of the thigh. In addition, in the rat and the mouse, no transcripts of the GLUT3 gene were detected in liver, kidney, small intestine, skeletal muscle, or fat besides in brain. Thus, the expression of the GLUT3 gene seems to be restricted to the brain in rodents. These results suggest that the expression of GLUT1 and GLUT3 genes might be regulated by different mechanisms.