Physiology and Pharmacology of the Blood-Brain Barrier

The blood-brain barrier is still not completely understood and therefore the subject of fascinating study. How are endogenous substances transported through the blood-brain barrier? What are the known therapeutic and toxic agents? How are they transported across cerebral microvessels? The discussion of these and other questions with far-reaching consequences for all neuroscientists can be found in this volume. This authoritative and up-to-date review of the blood-brain barrier gives a proper understanding of the topic. The experimental principles, the results of very recent research, as well as the implications that experimental research has for clinical treatment are thoroughly covered. Information is given on: - new findings based on classical physiological and pharmacological techniques, - results obtained from brain capillaries in vitro and in culture, - results obtained from the new scanning techniques (PET and MRI), - the immunology of the blood-brain barrier, - trace metal transport, - the pathological breakdown of the barrier and - the modification of drugs to increase their entry into the brain. Here is a source of information that is invaluable to specialists concerned with basic research in the neurosciences, with the design of neuropharmacological agents, with the radiological diagnosis of cerebral pathology or with the treatment of cerebral lesions!

Inhalt
1 Ultrastructure of Brain Endothelium.- 2 Methods of Study.- 3 Diffusional and Osmotic Permeability to Water.- 4 Blood-Brain Glucose Transfer.- 5 Transport of Amino Acids.- 6 Peptides and the Blood-Brain Barrier.- 7 The Movement of Vitamins Into the Brain.- 8 Electrolyte Transport.- 9 Secretion and Bulk Flow of Interstitial Fluid.- 10 Trace Metal Transport at the Blood-Brain Barrier.- 11 Transport of Drugs.- 12 Clinical Assessment of Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability: Magnetic Resonance Imaging.- 13 Clinical Assessment of the Blood-Brain Barrier: Positron Emission Tomography.- 14 Ontogenetic Development of Brain Barrier Mechanisms.- 15 Comparative Physiology of the Blood-Brain Barrier.- 16 Immunology of Brain Endothelium and the Blood-Brain Barrier.- 17 The Blood-Brain Barrier In Vitro and in Culture.- 18 Opening of the Barrier in Cerebral Pathology.- 19 Experimental Manipulation of the Blood-Brain and Blood-Retinal Barriers.- 20 Drug Entry Into the Brain and Its Pharmacologic Manipulation.- 21 Therapeutic Opening of the Blood-Brain Barrier in Man.