Abstract
The current pathogenic scenarios of different types of dementia are based on a number
of common mechanisms of neurodegeneration, such as accumulation of abnormal proteins
(within or outside cells), mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress, calcium
homeostasis dysregulation, early synaptic disconnection and late apoptotic cell death.
Ageing itself is associated with mild cognitive deterioration, probably due to subtle
multifactorial changes resulting in a global decrease of a functional brain reserve.
Increased age is a risk factor for neurodegeneration and key pathological features
of dementia can also be found in aged brains. One of the underexplored brain structures
in ageing and dementia is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a complex cellular gate which
regulates tightly the transport of molecules into and from the central nervous system.
Disruption of this barrier is now increasingly documented not only in brain vascular
disease but also in ageing and neurodegenerative disorders. To date, such evidence
points mainly at an association between various dementia forms and disruption of the
BBB. But, in reviewing such results, and taking into account the exquisite sensitivity
of neuronal function to the composition of the interstitial brain fluid (IBF), which
is regulated by the BBB, we would like to propose the existence of a possible causal
link between alterations of BBB and conditions associated with cognitive decline.
Keywords
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Published online: March 05, 2009
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© 2009 Elsevier B.V. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
