Jonathan Wilhoite Blog: BBB Leakage May Lead To Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

BBB Leakage May Lead To Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease

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A dedicated team of researchers were able to see signs of blood brain barrier (BBB) leakage using a contrast-enhanced MRI scan of the brains of patients with Alzheimer’s disease that could tell the difference between a normal brain and that of a person with Alzheimer’s

Visible signs of BBB leakage

In a study published in the journal Radiology, researchers from the Maastricht University Medical Center in the Netherlands, found that the BBB leakage rate of those with Alzheimer’s disease are significantly higher and the leakage distributed throughout the cerebrum which is the largest part of the brain.

“Blood-brain barrier leakage means that the brain has lost its protective means, the stability of brain cells is disrupted and the environment in which nerve cells interact becomes ill-conditioned,” said study author Walter H. Backes, Ph.D. adding that “these mechanisms could eventually lead to dysfunction in the brain.”

The blood brain barrier is a collection of cells and sub cellular structures found in the cerebrovascular wall separating the brain from the blood and essential to keeping the brain tissue healthy. It is also responsible for regulating the delivery of nutrients to the brain and is also vital in blocking neurotoxins by flushing it out of the brain.

The study involved contrast –enhanced MRI displays that compared 16 Alzheimer’s patients and 17 healthy participants of the same age group, where they were able to generate a map called a histogram that allowed them to determine the amount of leaking brain tissue.

Their findings allowed them to determine the relationship on the extent of BBB damage with the decline of cognitive abilities that could also help diagnose an early pathology of Alzheimer’s that indicates the progress of the degenerative disease leading to symptoms of mental decline and dementia.

This also strengthened the hypothesis that diabetes and other non-cerebral vascular diseases are not directly involved in the development of Alzheimer’s or affect the BBB process in the human brain.

Dr. Backes pointed out that this milestone provides a great advantage in detecting BBB leakage to detect early microvascular changes in Alzheimer’s where there are no other possible means can be used to detect cerebrovascular abnormalities through contrast MRI.

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