Metabolic fuel and amino acid transport into the brain in experimental hypothyroidism

1990 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arshag D. Mooradian

Abstract The effect of hypothyroidism in the adult rat on blood-brain barrier and muscle transport of hexoses, neutral amino acids, basic amino acids, monocarboxylic acids, and ketone bodies was examined using single arterial injection-tissue sampling technique. The cerebral blood flow and brain extraction of 3H2O (internal reference substance) was not altered in 3-month-old hypothyroid rats maintained on methimazole, 0.025% in the drinking water, for 7 weeks. The brain uptake index of D-β-hydroxybutyrate was significantly reduced in hypothyroid rats (2.4 ± 0.3 vs 4.6 ± 0.6% p<0.001). Hypothyroid rats given thyroid hormone replacement therapy had normal brain uptake of D-β-hydroxybutyrate (4.4 ± 0.8%). The brain uptake index of butyrate was also significantly reduced in hypothyroid rats (39.3 ± 2.1 vs 47.2 ± 0.74%, p<0.001). The brain uptake index of other test substances and muscle uptake of nutrients examined were not altered in hypothyroid rats. These studies indicate that of the four transport systems examined in two tissues, the blood-brain barrier monocarboxylic acid transport system is most susceptible to the hypothyroidism-induced changes.

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Löscher ◽  
Alon Friedman

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic, highly selective barrier primarily formed by endothelial cells connected by tight junctions that separate the circulating blood from the brain extracellular fluid. The endothelial cells lining the brain microvessels are under the inductive influence of neighboring cell types, including astrocytes and pericytes. In addition to the anatomical characteristics of the BBB, various specific transport systems, enzymes and receptors regulate molecular and cellular traffic across the BBB. While the intact BBB prevents many macromolecules and immune cells from entering the brain, following epileptogenic brain insults the BBB changes its properties. Among BBB alterations, albumin extravasation and diapedesis of leucocytes from blood into brain parenchyma occur, inducing or contributing to epileptogenesis. Furthermore, seizures themselves may modulate BBB functions, permitting albumin extravasation, leading to activation of astrocytes and the innate immune system, and eventually modifications of neuronal networks. BBB alterations following seizures are not necessarily associated with enhanced drug penetration into the brain. Increased expression of multidrug efflux transporters such as P-glycoprotein likely act as a ‘second line defense’ mechanism to protect the brain from toxins. A better understanding of the complex alterations in BBB structure and function following seizures and in epilepsy may lead to novel therapeutic interventions allowing the prevention and treatment of epilepsy as well as other detrimental neuro-psychiatric sequelae of brain injury.


2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 49-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Ling Amelia Lee ◽  
Adina T. Michael-Titus ◽  
Divyen K. Shah

This review aims to highlight a possible relationship between hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) and the disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Inflammatory reactions perpetuate a large proportion of cerebral injury. The extent of injury noted in HIE is not only determined by the biochemical cascades that trigger the apoptosis-necrosis continuum of cell death in the brain parenchyma, but also by the breaching of the BBB by pro-inflammatory factors. We examine the changes that contribute to the breakdown of the BBB that occur during HIE at a macroscopic, cellular, and molecular level. The BBB is a permeability barrier which separates a large majority of brain areas from the systemic circulation. The concept of a physiological BBB is based at the anatomical level on the neurovascular unit (NVU). The NVU consists of various cellular components that jointly regulate the exchanges that occur at the interface between the systemic circulation and the brain parenchyma. There is increased understanding of the contribution of the components of the NVU, e.g., astrocytes and pericytes, to the maintenance of this physiological barrier. We also explore the development of therapeutic options in HIE, such as harnessing the transport systems in the BBB, to enable the delivery of large molecules with molecular Trojan horse technology, and the reinforcement of the physical barrier with cell-based therapy which utilizes endothelial progenitor cells and stem cells.


Membranes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hernán Cortés ◽  
Sergio Alcalá-Alcalá ◽  
Isaac H. Caballero-Florán ◽  
Sergio A. Bernal-Chávez ◽  
Arturo Ávalos-Fuentes ◽  
...  

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a sophisticated and very selective dynamic interface composed of endothelial cells expressing enzymes, transport systems, and receptors that regulate the passage of nutrients, ions, oxygen, and other essential molecules to the brain, regulating its homeostasis. Moreover, the BBB performs a vital function in protecting the brain from pathogens and other dangerous agents in the blood circulation. Despite its crucial role, this barrier represents a difficult obstacle for the treatment of brain diseases because many therapeutic agents cannot cross it. Thus, different strategies based on nanoparticles have been explored in recent years. Concerning this, chitosan-decorated nanoparticles have demonstrated enormous potential for drug delivery across the BBB and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, gliomas, cerebral ischemia, and schizophrenia. Our main objective was to highlight the high potential of chitosan adsorption to improve the penetrability through the BBB of nanoformulations for diseases of CNS. Therefore, we describe the BBB structure and function, as well as the routes of chitosan for crossing it. Moreover, we define the methods of decoration of nanoparticles with chitosan and provide numerous examples of their potential utilization in a variety of brain diseases. Lastly, we discuss future directions, mentioning the need for extensive characterization of proposed nanoformulations and clinical trials for evaluation of their efficacy.


1990 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 698-706 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Moos Knudsen ◽  
K. D. Pettigrew ◽  
C. S. Patlak ◽  
M. M. Hertz ◽  
O. B. Paulson

Blood–brain barrier permeability to four large neutral and one basic amino acid was studied in 30 patients with the double indicator technique. The resultant 64 venous outflow curves were analyzed by means of two models that take tracer backflux and capillary heterogeneity into account. The first model considers the blood–brain barrier as a double membrane where amino acids from plasma enter the endothelial cell. When an endothelial cell volume of 0.001 ml/g was assumed, permeability from the blood into the endothelial cell was, for most amino acids, about 10–20 times larger than the permeability for the reverse direction. The second model assumes that the amino acids, after intracarotid injection, cross a single membrane barrier and enter a well-mixed compartment, the brain extracellular fluid, i.e., the endothelial cell is assumed to behave as a single membrane. With this model, for large neutral amino acids, the permeability out of the extracellular fluid space back to the blood was between 8 to 12 times higher than the permeability from the blood into the brain. Such a difference in permeabilities across the blood–brain barrier can almost entirely be ascribed to the effect of a nonlinear transport system combined with a relatively small brain amino acid metabolism. The significance of the possible presence of an energy-dependent A system at the abluminal side of the blood–brain barrier is discussed and related to the present findings. For both models, calculation of brain extraction by simple peak extraction values underestimates true unidirectional brain uptake by 17–40%. This raises methodological problems when estimating blood to brain transfer of amino acids with this traditional in vivo method.


2010 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 502-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Jin ◽  
Jian Li ◽  
Roger L. Nation ◽  
Joseph A. Nicolazzo

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to investigate the factors limiting the blood-brain barrier (BBB) transport of colistin in healthy mice and to assess the impact of systemic inflammation on the transport of this antibiotic across the BBB. Colistin sulfate (40 mg/kg) was administered subcutaneously to Swiss outbred mice as single and multiple doses to determine any relationship between brain uptake and plasma concentrations of colistin. To assess the effect of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) on BBB transport, colistin sulfate (5 mg/kg) was concomitantly administered intravenously with PSC833 or GF120918 (10 mg/kg). Systemic inflammation was induced by three intraperitoneal injections of lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 3 mg/kg), and BBB transport of colistin was subsequently measured following subcutaneous administration and by anin situbrain perfusion. The brain uptake of colistin was low following single and multiple subcutaneous doses, with brain-to-plasma concentration ratios ranging between 0.021 and 0.037, and this was not significantly enhanced by coadministration of GF120918 or PSC833 (P> 0.05). LPS significantly increased the brain uptake of subcutaneously administered colistin with area under the brain concentration time curve (AUCbrain) values of 11.7 ± 2.7 μg·h/g and 4.0 ± 0.3 μg·h/g for LPS- and saline-treated mice, respectively (mean ± standard deviation). Similarly,in situperfusion of colistin led to higher antibiotic brain concentrations in LPS-treated animals than in saline-treated animals, with colistin brain-to-perfusate concentration ratios of 0.019 ± 0.001 and 0.014 ± 0.001, respectively. This study demonstrates that the BBB transport of colistin is negligible in healthy mice; however, brain concentrations of colistin can be significantly enhanced during systemic inflammation, as might be observed in infected patients.


1975 ◽  
Vol 229 (5) ◽  
pp. 1165-1169 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Gjedde ◽  
C Crone

Fed and starved rats were studied on successive days during a 5-day starvation period. The ability of ketone bodies to pass the blood-brain barrier was estimated by single common carotid injections of labeled ketone bodies and water, and results were expressed as the ratio between the normalized activities of tracers in tissue and blood, the brain uptake index (BUI). BUI of D-3-hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate decreased as their total concentrations increased in the injectate bolus: BUI of D-3-hydroxybutyrate decreased significantly from 8% at 0.2 mM to 3--4% at 20.2 mM in fed rats and from 11.5% at 0.2 mM to 6% at 20.2 mM in starved rats, indicating saturation of the uptake mechanism. The BUI of both ketone bodies increased significantly with increasing duration of starvation, indicating adaptation to ketonemia. Enzymatic kinetics explained the uptake behavior of D-3-hydroxybutyrate in both fed and starved rats and involved a rise of Km and Vmax during starvation consistent with a doubling of the transport rate at the degree of ketonemia found in starved rats. The uptake of glucose was not influenced by starvation or ketonemia.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2891
Author(s):  
Francesca Cutruzzolà ◽  
Amani Bouzidi ◽  
Francesca Romana Liberati ◽  
Sharon Spizzichino ◽  
Giovanna Boumis ◽  
...  

Brain metastases are the most severe clinical manifestation of aggressive tumors. Melanoma, breast, and lung cancers are the types that prefer the brain as a site of metastasis formation, even if the reasons for this phenomenon still remain to be clarified. One of the main characteristics that makes a cancer cell able to form metastases in the brain is the ability to interact with the endothelial cells of the microvasculature, cross the blood–brain barrier, and metabolically adapt to the nutrients available in the new microenvironment. In this review, we analyzed what makes the brain a suitable site for the development of metastases and how this microenvironment, through the continuous release of neurotransmitters and amino acids in the extracellular milieu, is able to support the metabolic needs of metastasizing cells. We also suggested a possible role for amino acids released by the brain through the endothelial cells of the blood–brain barrier into the bloodstream in triggering the process of extravasation/invasion of the brain parenchyma.


Author(s):  
S Dingezweni

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a dynamic barrier essential for central nervous system interstitial fluid separation from circulating blood. This dynamic separation ensures maintenance of neuronal microenvironment homeostasis against that of the everchanging in solutes and toxin concentration in circulating blood. The blood–brain barrier structure is complex, it has multiple contributors, such as specialised blood microvascular endothelium, neurons, astrocytes and pericytes. Transfer of essential nutrients to the brain and waste products from the brain to circulating blood is tightly regulated and facilitated by a large surface area and specialised transport systems. It is not only the physical characteristics of the barrier that assist in maintenance of neuronal microenvironment, biochemical substances and the high trans endothelial electrical resistance also play a major role. Circumventricular organs are those parts of the central nervous system lacking the blood–brain barrier. These are essential for optimum central nervous system interaction with circulating blood directly or using neurotransmitters. Primary or secondary central nervous system pathological states, such as infective and noninfective causes, directly or indirectly induce biochemical mediators that may disrupt and alter blood–brain barrier structure and function. Understanding of the blood–brain barrier anatomy and physiology assists in developing treatment methods to overcome degenerative and pathological states negatively affecting the central nervous system.


1983 ◽  
Vol 245 (3) ◽  
pp. E253-E260 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. R. Conn ◽  
D. I. Fell ◽  
R. D. Steele

The transport of keto acids, monocarboxylic acids, and ketone bodies was studied in barbiturate-anesthetized, adult male Sprague-Dawley rats. [1-14C]propionate and D-3-[3-14C]hydroxybutyrate were found to cross the blood-brain barrier with brain uptake indexes of 43.53 and 7.10%, respectively. Transport of both of these substrates was saturable, with the values of transport Km being 2.03 and 6.54 mM, respectively. A Ki of 0.68 mM was derived from competition data measuring the uptake of [1-14C]alpha-ketoisocaproate in the presence of unlabeled alpha-ketobutyrate. This finding and results from classical inhibition studies support competition for transport of keto acids for a common carrier. The brain uptake of [1-14C]propionate was significantly reduced by keto acids and ketone bodies and the transport of D-3-[3-14C]hydroxybutyrate was significantly inhibited by unlabeled monocarboxylic acids, keto acids, and acetoacetate. Evidence for competitive transport of alpha-keto acids, monocarboxylic acids, and ketone bodies is presented in the form of classical double-reciprocal inhibition plots and of labeled monocarboxylic acids and ketone bodies by an increasing concentration of unlabeled alpha-ketoisocaproate, the latter method yielding Ki values of 0.29 and 0.63 mM, respectively. The brain uptake of labeled propionate was inhibited by unlabeled D-3-hydroxybutyrate. A Ki of 6.43 mM, derived from this data, approximated the Km of transport of D-3-hydroxybutyrate, suggesting that ketone bodies and monocarboxylic acids compete for transport via the same carrier that is operative for keto acids.


Author(s):  
Jonathan Burns ◽  
Donald F. Weaver ◽  
Jonathan Burns ◽  
Donald F. Weaver

Background:Predicting the ability of drugs to enter the brain is a longstanding problem in neuropharmacology. The first step in creating a much-needed computational algorithm for predicting whether a drug will enter brain is to devise a rigorous mathematical model.Methods:Employing two experimental measures of blood-brain barrier (BBB) penetrability (brain/plasma ratio and the brain-uptake index) and 14 theoretically derived biophysical predictors, a mathematical model was developed to quantitatively correlate molecular structure with ability to traverse the BBB.Results:This mathematical model employs Stein's hydrogen bonding number and Randic's topological descriptors to correlate structure with ability to cross the BBB. The final model accurately predicts the ability of test molecules to cross the BBB.Conclusion:A mathematical method to predict blood-brain barrier penetrability of drug molecules has been successfully devised. As a result of bioinformatics, chemoinformatics and other informatics-based technologies, the number of small molecules being developed as potential therapeutics is increasing exponentially. A biophysically rigorous method to predict BBB penetrability will be a much-needed tool for the evaluation of these molecules.


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