Blood-Brain Barrier 101
While blood transports oxygen and nutrients throughout our body, it might also pose harmful substances that could harm our organs, including our powerhouse, the brain. How does our brain stay protected and maintain its microenvironment? The Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB). It’s a unique property of the blood vessels in our central nervous system to ensure the delicate environment of the brain is meticulously maintained.
How does BBB work?
Why do we care about BBB?
Certain neurological conditions like Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer’s Disease can alter or disrupt the integrity of the BBB. For example, inflammation triggered by these diseases can increase the permeability of the BBB, allowing harmful substances or immune cells to enter the brain and potentially worsen the disease.
Conclusion
Understanding BBB’s mechanism is crucial to developing the treatment of neurological disorders. The low permeability of BBB is like a double-edged sword. It acts effectively to protect brain tissue from circulating pathogens and other potentially toxic substances. Accordingly, blood-borne infections of the brain are rare. However, infections of the brain that do occur are often difficult to treat, because many potentially therapeutic agents are unable to cross the BBB to reach the brain tissue.
References
Daneman R, Prat A. The blood-brain barrier. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2015;7(1):a020412. Published 2015 Jan 5. doi:10.1101/cshperspect.a020412
Kadry, H., Noorani, B. & Cucullo, L. A blood–brain barrier overview on structure, function, impairment, and biomarkers of integrity. Fluids Barriers CNS 17, 69 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12987-020-00230-
