Science In A Minute – The Leaky Blood Brain Barrier

by | Feb 21, 2022 | Metabolic Health

Hello and welcome to PREKURE’s weekly snippet of science, where on a weekly basis we share emergent research related to extending the human healthspan.

INTRODUCING THE LEAKY BLOOD-BRAIN BARRIER

 

You’ve probably heard about leaky gut, it seems to be all the craze at the moment, and rightfully so. Not looking after your gut and a poorly functioning microbiome and lack of diversity in the microbiota (tiny bugs living in your gut) have been associated with several diseases including obesity, metabolic syndrome, T2D, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and anxiety. But, have you heard about a leaky blood-brain barrier (BBB)?

In this week’s snippet of science, we will be introducing you to an emerging area of research, the theoretical concept known as the leaky BBB. The blood-brain barrier works to selectively let only specific molecules through into the brain however sometimes it becomes more permeable or leaky. The theory of a leaky brain is still relatively new and is yet to be verified in human studies, to date findings in this area are mainly related to cell culture or brain tissue studies.

The loss of selectivity seen in an impaired BBB has been linked to several diseases including anxiety, depression, and neurodegenerative diseases but the directionality of this relationship has yet to be established.

It is worth noting that although several factors (like inflammation, toxins, and a leaky gut) have been linked to a leaky brain, to date, these finds are merely associational and not causational.

There are THREE blog posts that we recommend you read that covers topics including:

    • What is the blood-brain barrier?
    • Factors linked to “leaky brain”
    • Conditions linked to a compromised BBB
    • 11 factors that disrupt the BBB
    • Factors proposed to improve “leaky brain”

Part 1: Introduction to the Blood-Brain Barrier, Causes of Leaky Brain, and Resulting Diseases

Part 2: 11 Factors That Disrupt the Blood-Brain Barrier

Part 3: What is a “Leaky” Blood-Brain Barrier & Can You Improve it?

 

PREKURE is all about applying cutting-edge, evidence-based science into practice and we hope that by equipping you with new knowledge on a weekly basis you can incorporate this into your own life and share it with your clients when appropriate. Each week will bring with it new and exciting research, however, if there is something you are itching to know more about please email us and we will keep it on our radar as we curate our weekly snippets. 
 
We will only be sharing open-access, freely available journal articles and blogs with you. However, we wanted to make you aware of the academic workaround for getting your hands on the latest research. When looking for research you might find yourself browsing PUBMED or Google Scholar and happen upon a research article that you want to read, unfortunately, the publishers want you to pay to access it. Oh well, guess you should just keep looking right? Wrong. You can use another website called ResearchGate to access journal articles. Here, researchers create a profile and upload their work. If the PDF you are after isn’t available you can simply click the ‘request PDF’ button and the researcher will email you a copy! As an example, here is our very own Prof Schofield’s ResearchGate profile.