Hussain Basharat, Fang Cheng, Chang Junlei
Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Biomimetic Materials and Cellular Immunomodulation, Institute of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Front Neurosci. 2021 Aug 19;15:688090. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2021.688090. eCollection 2021.
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a vital role in maintaining the specialized microenvironment of the neural tissue. It separates the peripheral circulatory system from the brain parenchyma while facilitating communication. Alterations in the distinct physiological properties of the BBB lead to BBB breakdown associated with normal aging and various neurodegenerative diseases. In this review, we first briefly discuss the aging process, then review the phenotypes and mechanisms of BBB breakdown associated with normal aging that further cause neurodegeneration and cognitive impairments. We also summarize dementia such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) and subsequently discuss the phenotypes and mechanisms of BBB disruption in dementia correlated with cognition decline. Overlaps between AD and VaD are also discussed. Techniques that could identify biomarkers associated with BBB breakdown are briefly summarized. Finally, we concluded that BBB breakdown could be used as an emerging biomarker to assist to diagnose cognitive impairment associated with normal aging and dementia.
血脑屏障（BBB）在维持神经组织的特殊微环境中起着至关重要的作用。它将外周循环系统与脑实质分隔开，同时促进二者之间的交流。血脑屏障独特生理特性的改变会导致与正常衰老及各种神经退行性疾病相关的血脑屏障破坏。在本综述中，我们首先简要讨论衰老过程，然后回顾与正常衰老相关的血脑屏障破坏的表型和机制，这些破坏会进一步导致神经退行性变和认知障碍。我们还总结了诸如阿尔茨海默病（AD）和血管性痴呆（VaD）等痴呆症，随后讨论与认知能力下降相关的痴呆症中血脑屏障破坏的表型和机制。我们还将讨论AD和VaD之间的重叠之处。简要总结了可识别与血脑屏障破坏相关生物标志物的技术。最后，我们得出结论，血脑屏障破坏可用作一种新兴的生物标志物，以协助诊断与正常衰老和痴呆相关的认知障碍。
