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Blood-brain barrier disruption in multiple sclerosis

Departments of Neurology, Psychiatry and Anesthesiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA 71130, USA

J Steven Alexander

Departments of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, LA 71130, USA, jalexa{at}lsuhsc.edu

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a complex organization of cerebral endothelial cells (C EC), pericytes and their basal lamina, which are surrounded and supported by astrocytes and perivascular macrophages. C ollectively these cells separate and form the compartments of the cerebral vascular space and the cerebral interstitium under normal conditions. Without the BBB, the ‘interior milieu’ of the central nervous system (CNS) would be flooded by humoral neurotransmitters and formed blood elements that upset normal C NS functions and lead to vascular/neural injury. Dysregulation of the BBB and transendo thelial migration of activated leukocytes are among the earliest cerebrovascular abnormalities seen in multiple sclerosis (MS) brains and parallel the release of inflammatory cytokines/chemokines. Mechanisms for breakdown of the BBB in MS are incompletely understood, but appear to involve direct effects of these cytokines/chemokines on endothelial regulation of BBB components, as well as indirect cytokine/chemokine-dependent leukocyte mediated injury.

Unique endothelial structural features of the BBB include highly organized endothelial tight junctions, the absence of class II major histocompatibility complex, abundant mitochondria and a highly developed transport system in C EC. Exposure of endothelium to proinflammatory cytokines (IFN-g, TNF-a and IL-1b) interrupts the BBB by disorganizing cell-cell junctions, decreases the brain solute barrier, enhances leukocyte endothelial adhesion and migration as well as increases expression of class II MHC and promotes shedding of endothelial ‘microparticles’ (EMP). In this review we examine interactions between cytokines/chemokines, activated leukocytes, adhesion molecules and activated C EC in the pathogenesis of BBB failure in MS.

Key Words: blood-brain barrier • chemokine • cytokine • endothelial microparticle • multiple sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis, Vol. 9, No. 6, 540-549 (2003)
DOI: 10.1191/1352458503ms965oa


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