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Cytokines and the Blood–Brain Barrier

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The Neuroimmunological Basis of Behavior and Mental Disorders

Abstract

The blood-brain barrier (BBB) mediates interactions between the immune and central nervous systems in several ways and is central to many mechanisms that form communication pathways within the neuroimmune axis. Here, we briefly review the chief types of interactions. Cytokines and immune cells cross the BBB by regulated mechanisms. Cytokines alter BBB characteristics, including the integrity of the BBB, its transport systems, and its ability to control immune cell trafficking. The cells that comprise the BBB secrete cytokines, prostaglandins, nitric oxide, and other immuneactive factors. Such secretion is both constituitive and inducible, depending on the substance secreted. Secretion is also polarized; that is, secretion can be from either the luminal or abluminal membrane. This raises the possibility that the BBB may recieve signal at one membrane and secrete cytokine from the other as a mechanism of communication within the neuroimmune axis. In brief, the BBB is a central player in a number of mechanisms and pathways that comprise the neuroimmune axis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine, GRECC, Veterans Affairs Medical Center-St. Louis and Saint Louis University School of Medicine, WAB, 915 N. Grand Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63106, USA

    William A. Banks

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  1. William A. Banks
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  2. Jessica L. Lynch
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  3. Tulin O. Price
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Neurology and Neuroscience and Psychiatry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey — NJ Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA

    Allan Siegel

  2. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey — NJ Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA

    Steven S. Zalcman

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Banks, W.A., Lynch, J.L., Price, T.O. (2009). Cytokines and the Blood–Brain Barrier. In: Siegel, A., Zalcman, S.S. (eds) The Neuroimmunological Basis of Behavior and Mental Disorders. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-84851-8_1

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