Blood-Brain Barrier

The blood-brain barrier is like a security guard for your brain. It’s a special wall made up of cells that protects your brain from harmful things in your blood, like germs or poisons. But it also lets good things, like oxygen and nutrients, get through to keep your brain healthy.

In more scientific terms, the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective semipermeable border of endothelial cells that prevents solutes in the circulating blood from non-selectively crossing into the central nervous system’s extracellular fluid. This barrier is crucial in maintaining the homeostasis of the brain’s microenvironment, allowing for the passage of essential molecules like glucose and amino acids, while restricting the entry of potentially harmful substances.

1. PubMed | The Blood-Brain Barrier: An Overview: Structure, Regulation, and Clinical Implications
2. Harvard Health | Leaky brain in Alzheimer’s disease
3. ScienceDirect | Blood–brain barrier and immune cell transmigration
4. Nature Reviews Neuroscience | Blood–brain barrier: from physiology to disease and back
5. Frontiers in Neuroscience | The blood-brain barrier in health and chronic neurodegenerative disorders