Weber Callie M, Clyne Alisa Morss
Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
APL Bioeng. 2021 Mar 16;5(1):011509. doi: 10.1063/5.0035610. eCollection 2021 Mar.
The number of people diagnosed with neurodegenerative diseases is on the rise. Many of these diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and motor neuron disease, demonstrate clear sexual dimorphisms. While sex as a biological variable must now be included in animal studies, sex is rarely included in models of human neurodegenerative disease. In this Review, we describe these sex-related differences in neurodegenerative diseases and the blood-brain barrier (BBB), whose dysfunction is linked to neurodegenerative disease development and progression. We explain potential mechanisms by which sex and sex hormones affect BBB integrity. Finally, we summarize current BBB bioengineered models and highlight their potential to study sex differences in BBB integrity and neurodegenerative disease.
被诊断患有神经退行性疾病的人数正在上升。其中许多疾病，包括阿尔茨海默病、帕金森病、多发性硬化症和运动神经元病，都表现出明显的性别差异。虽然现在动物研究中必须将性别作为一个生物学变量纳入，但在人类神经退行性疾病模型中很少考虑性别因素。在本综述中，我们描述了神经退行性疾病以及血脑屏障（BBB）中与性别相关的差异，血脑屏障功能障碍与神经退行性疾病的发生和发展有关。我们解释了性别和性激素影响血脑屏障完整性的潜在机制。最后，我们总结了当前的血脑屏障生物工程模型，并强调了它们在研究血脑屏障完整性和神经退行性疾病中的性别差异方面的潜力。
