blood-brain barrier

Examples of blood-brain barrier in the following topics:

• Listeriosis

  • If the infection spreads to the nervous system it can cause meningitis, an infection of the covering of the brain and spinal cord.
  • This involves a bacterial protein "internalin" which attaches to a protein on the intestinal cell membrane "cadherin. " These adhesion molecules are also to be found in two other unusually tough barriers in humans - the blood-brain barrier and the feto-placental barrier, and this may explain the apparent affinity that Listeria has for causing meningitis and affecting babies in-utero.
  • In the advent of listeriosis, bacteremia should be treated for two weeks, meningitis for three weeks, and brain abscess for at least six weeks.
  • A bacterial infection caused by a Gram-positive, motile bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes which is shown here on a blood agar plate.

• African Trypanosomiasis

  • While taking blood from a mammalian host, an infected tsetse fly injects metacyclic trypomastigotes into skin tissue.
  • A tsetse fly becomes infected with bloodstream trypomastigotes when taking a blood meal on an infected mammalian host.
  • Transmission can also occur in laboratories by accidental infections; for example, through the handling of blood of an infected person and organ transplantation, though this is uncommon.
  • Blood transfusions and possibly sexual contact, are two other causes.
  • The second phase, the neurological phase, begins when the parasite invades the central nervous system by passing through the blood–brain barrier.

• Immunotherapy for Cancer

  • Examples of such antigens include the glycosphingolipid GD2 , a disialoganglioside that is normally only expressed at a significant level on the outer surface membranes of neuronal cells, where its exposure to the immune system is limited by the blood-brain barrier.

• Macrophages

  • Resident macrophages become adapted to perform particular functions in different organs; so that brain macrophages (microglia) are very different from alveolar macrophages of the lung, Kupffer cells of the liver, or the largest tissue macrophage population, those lining the wall of the gut.
  • To enter a tissue, the monocyte in peripheral blood must adhere to the vessel wall, cross the endothelial cell barrier, and then migrate towards the stimulus; a process known as chemotaxis.

• Prostatitis

  • Testing of urine samples reveals the presence of bacteria and white blood cells.
  • Blood samples can contain bacteria.
  • White blood cells counts are elevated in the complete blood count.
  • Good penetrators of the barrier are quinolones, doxycycline, macrolides and sulfas (Bactrim).
  • In the case of acute prostatitis, the prostate-blood barrier is damaged by the infection so the penetrating ability of the antibiotic is not as important.

• Meningitis

  • Meningitis is inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord, known collectively as the meninges.
  • Meningitis can be life-threatening because of the inflammation's proximity to the brain and spinal cord.
  • In someone suspected of having meningitis, blood tests are performed for markers of inflammation (e.g.
  • C-reactive protein, complete blood count) as well as blood cultures.
  • This figure displays the meninges with respect to the skull and surface of the brain.

• Rabies

  • Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals.
  • Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) in warm-blooded animals.
  • The rabies virus infects the central nervous system, travelling from the peripheral nerves to the brain.
  • Rabies may be diagnosed by PCR or viral culture of brain samples after death, or from skin samples taken before.

• Development of the Dual Lymphocyte System

  • The human body has about 2 trillion lymphocytes, constituting 20-40% of white blood cells (WBCs); their total mass is about the same as the brain or liver.
  • The peripheral blood contains 20–50% of circulating lymphocytes; the rest move within the lymphatic system.
  • Mammalian stem cells differentiate into several kinds of blood cell within the bone marrow.
  • Mammalian stem cells differentiate into several kinds of blood cell within the bone marrow.

• Arboviral Encephalitis

  • Arboviral encephalitis (acute swelling in the brain) is caused by a group of arthropod-transmitted viruses.
  • Arboviral encephalitis are a group of arthropod-transmitted viruses that cause encephalitis (acute swelling in the brain).
  • TBE and other arboviral encephalitis can be diagnosed through a combination of blood tests, particularly immunologic, serologic, and/or virologic techniques such as ELISA, complement fixation, polymerase chain reaction, Neutralization test, and Hemoagglutination Inhibition test.
  • Treatment is therefore only supportive, attempting to deal with problems such as swelling of the brain, loss of the automatic breathing, activity of the brain, and other treatable complications like bacterial pneumonia.

• Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

  • Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord .
  • The disease may be most easily transmitted to human beings by eating food contaminated with the brain, spinal cord or digestive tract of infected carcasses.
  • However, it should also be noted that the infectious agent, although most highly concentrated in nervous tissue, can be found in virtually all tissues throughout the body, including blood.
  • Prion proteins carry the disease between individuals and cause deterioration of the brain.
  • This micrograph of brain tissue reveals the cytoarchitectural histopathologic changes found in bovine spongiform encephalopathy.