Your brain is permeated by a vast network of tiny little blood vessels, or capillaries as they are called. These are extremely small and thin so that blood cells can pass through them in a single file line. There are so many capillaries in one brain that you could lay them out and fill an average sized living room full of them. These capillaries that are located in the brain are surrounded by a single layer of cells. The layer of cells forms a type of barrier separating the capillaries and the fluid and cells of the brain. These cells are called "endothelial cells". Collectively this is known as the blood brain barrier. This barrier is a very tight barrier and is made up of three main components; the phospholipid bilayer, influx pumps, and
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Therapeutic drugs that are needed to target the central nervous system need to work to cross the blood brain barrier, often times failing. There are a few different ways scientists of discovered to help administer the medicine. One technique is direct injection. This has several draw backs because it is complex, expensive and invasive. After all that the direct injection only targets that specific portion, this will not work if the drug is needed to spread to other parts of the brain. Another technique is to administer larger amounts or a higher dose of the drug in order for it to pass through. There is still much research to do on the discovering of transporters or a method to get important medicine through the blood brain barrier. Researchers are looking into options such as gene therapy by using waxy strands to attach gene containing fat cells to antibodies that target receptors in the brain. This will allow cells to express the gene of interest. Other options researchers are looking into consist of drug development to sneak drugs into the brain and blood brain barrier disruption treatment to target the endothelial cells. With continues research scientists are hoping to help millions of people who suffer from diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Aids, Parkinson’s, brain cancer, multiple sclerosis and other types of neurodegenerative diseases. Once they have a better understanding of how the Blood Brain Barrier works they are hoping to penetrate the boarder to administer different
Therapeutic drugs that are needed to target the central nervous system need to work to cross the blood brain barrier, often times failing. There are a few different ways scientists of discovered to help administer the medicine. One technique is direct injection. This has several draw backs because it is complex, expensive and invasive. After all that the direct injection only targets that specific portion, this will not work if the drug is needed to spread to other parts of the brain. Another technique is to administer larger amounts or a higher dose of the drug in order for it to pass through. There is still much research to do on the discovering of transporters or a method to get important medicine through the blood brain barrier. Researchers are looking into options such as gene therapy by using waxy strands to attach gene containing fat cells to antibodies that target receptors in the brain. This will allow cells to express the gene of interest. Other options researchers are looking into consist of drug development to sneak drugs into the brain and blood brain barrier disruption treatment to target the endothelial cells. With continues research scientists are hoping to help millions of people who suffer from diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Aids, Parkinson’s, brain cancer, multiple sclerosis and other types of neurodegenerative diseases. Once they have a better understanding of how the Blood Brain Barrier works they are hoping to penetrate the boarder to administer different