Structural and functional characterization of age-associated changes at the blood-brain barrier. A comparative in vivo study in young adult and middle aged Wistar rats.

Structural and functional characterization of age-associated changes at the blood-brain barrier. A comparative in vivo study in young adult and middle aged Wistar rats. Brain Res Bull. 2018 Mar 06;: Authors: Bors L, Tóth K, Tóth EZ, Bajza Á, Csorba A, Szigeti K, Máthé D, Perlaki G, Orsi G, Tóth GK, Erdő F Abstract Decreased beta-amyloid clearance in Alzheimer's disease and increased blood-brain barrier permeability in aged subjects have been reported in several articles. However, morphological and functional characterization of blood-brain barrier and its membrane transporter activity have not been described in physiological aging yet. The aim of our study was to explore the structural changes in the brain microvessels and possible functional alterations of P-glycoprotein at the blood-brain barrier with aging. Our approach included MR imaging for anatomical orientation in middle aged rats, electronmicroscopy and immunohistochemistry to analyse the alterations at cellular level, dual or triple-probe microdialysis and SPECT to test P-glycoprotein functionality in young and middle aged rats. Our results indicate that the thickness of basal lamina increases, the number of tight junctions decreases and the size of astrocyte endfeet extends with advanced age. On the basis of microdialysis and SPECT results the P-gp function is reduced in old rats. With our multiparametric approach a complex regulation can be suggested which includes...
Source: Brain Research Bulletin - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Brain Res Bull Source Type: research