The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The blood-brain barrier in systemic inflammation

The blood-brain barrier in systemic inflammation
The blood-brain barrier in systemic inflammation
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a key role in maintaining the specialized microenvironment of the central nervous system (CNS), and enabling communication with the systemic compartment. BBB changes occur in several CNS pathologies. Here, we review disruptive and non-disruptive BBB changes in systemic infections and other forms of systemic inflammation, and how this may affect CNS function in health and disease. We first describe the structure and function of the BBB, and outline the techniques used to study the BBB in vitro, and in animal and human settings. We then summarise the evidence from a range of models linking BBB changes with systemic inflammation, and the underlying mechanisms. The clinical relevance of these BBB changes during systemic inflammation are discussed in the context of clinically-apparent syndromes such as sickness behaviour, delirium, and septic encephalopathy, as well as neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. We review emerging evidence for two novel concepts: (1) a heightened sensitivity of the diseased, versus healthy, BBB to systemic inflammation, and (2) the contribution of BBB changes induced by systemic inflammation to progression of the primary disease process.
blood-brain barrier, systemic inflammation, lipopolysaccharide, sickness behaviour, delirium, septic encephalopathy, multiple sclerosis, alzheimer’s disease
0889-1591
1-12
Varatharaj, Aravinthan
33d833af-9459-4b21-8489-ce9c0b6a09e0
Galea, Ian
66209a2f-f7e6-4d63-afe4-e9299f156f0b
Varatharaj, Aravinthan
33d833af-9459-4b21-8489-ce9c0b6a09e0
Galea, Ian
66209a2f-f7e6-4d63-afe4-e9299f156f0b

Varatharaj, Aravinthan and Galea, Ian (2017) The blood-brain barrier in systemic inflammation. Brain, Behavior and Immunity, 60, 1-12. (doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2016.03.010). (PMID:26995317)

Record type: Review

Abstract

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a key role in maintaining the specialized microenvironment of the central nervous system (CNS), and enabling communication with the systemic compartment. BBB changes occur in several CNS pathologies. Here, we review disruptive and non-disruptive BBB changes in systemic infections and other forms of systemic inflammation, and how this may affect CNS function in health and disease. We first describe the structure and function of the BBB, and outline the techniques used to study the BBB in vitro, and in animal and human settings. We then summarise the evidence from a range of models linking BBB changes with systemic inflammation, and the underlying mechanisms. The clinical relevance of these BBB changes during systemic inflammation are discussed in the context of clinically-apparent syndromes such as sickness behaviour, delirium, and septic encephalopathy, as well as neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. We review emerging evidence for two novel concepts: (1) a heightened sensitivity of the diseased, versus healthy, BBB to systemic inflammation, and (2) the contribution of BBB changes induced by systemic inflammation to progression of the primary disease process.

Text
Varatharaj Galea 2017 - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (916kB)

More information

Accepted/In Press date: 15 March 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 16 March 2016
Published date: February 2017
Keywords: blood-brain barrier, systemic inflammation, lipopolysaccharide, sickness behaviour, delirium, septic encephalopathy, multiple sclerosis, alzheimer’s disease
Organisations: Clinical & Experimental Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 390185
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/390185
ISSN: 0889-1591
PURE UUID: 03d4cd78-97d0-413f-a577-4ecbdf83f3ae
ORCID for Aravinthan Varatharaj: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1629-5774
ORCID for Ian Galea: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1268-5102

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 22 Mar 2016 09:08
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 04:03

Export record

Altmetrics

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×