What exactly is the blood-brain barrier?

Question

And why is it so significant when treating disease such as brain malignancies?

Answer 1

This is the system in the brain set up to protect it from neurotoxic or neurodegenerative compounds. The capillaries in the brain are set up differently to the rest of the body in that they have tight junctions to prevent small molecules entering in and also astrocytes surounding them which are kind of like little foot process which basically clear away molecules...or something like that. The only way something can really pass into the brain is if it is hydrophobic in nature and therefore interacts with the cell membrane to get inside or if the molecule has a specific transporter, ie glucose (because we need glucose in the brain...major source of energy. Vitamin C can enter via spinal fluid.......ummm back to the hydrophobic things heroin and caffeine are two such substances - thats why they have the kind of neurological effects they do.

Regarding malignancies....when there is a tumour in the brain this will ultimately affect the blood brain barrier in that affected area in that it will no longer function.....toxic compounds can enter - hence it is very significant.

Answer 2

All of the answers above are very good, ill put in my two cents of worth...

yes the blood brain barrier is a barrier that protects the brain from harmful substances. The only things that can cross the barrier are hormones, proteins, some substances like alcohol.
Treatment of brain malignancies you have pharmas that can attach itself to a protein or hormone and enter the blood brain barrier.
In most cases the patient is intervened with surgery.
remember that I'm being very general if you really want to learn more about the brain tissue i recommend you dive into a nuero anatomy book and a physiology book also.

thanks for the question.

Answer 3

read the answer by D-Girl she is correct. The blood-brain barrier is not a membrane of any sort. It is indeed the special construction of the blood vessels surrounded by the astrocytes. It becomes significant in medicine because many drugs will not cross the barrier. The one example I can think of is in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. The administered form of dopamine will not cross the barrier so this is why they use the "L" form or L-dopa so it can cross the barrier and be of therapeutic value.

Answer 4

the blood brain barrier is a physical barrier (membrane) which prevents a lot of compounds crossing from the ordinary circulation into the brain. If you want a drug to treat a brain condition, it must be designed to be able to cross this barrier, to get to its intended site of action.

Answer 5

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a membrane that blocks the carriage of MOST substances in the blood from crossing into the central nervous system, usually through cerebro-spinal fluid. It is instrumental in the treatment of brain diseases, particularly, because of the need to find the mechanism to cross it to carry the needed medications to the target area.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

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Answer 8

It is a physiologic barrier that substances prevents everything in the blood stream from getting into the central nervous system (CNS) is not 100%, but varies from substance to substance, mainly based on how lipid soluble (disolvable in fat) it is. It is used to our advanage for example in designing drugs that fo not cause CNS effects. For example, non-sedating antihistamines are non-sedating because they are blocked by this barrier.

Answer 9

its at the top of the back of the neck it stops fluid getting to the brain i think?