Blood-brain barrier breakdown in the aging human hippocampus.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational human imaging and biomarker study
PubMed 25611508 · doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2014.12.032
What was done
Researchers used dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI with high spatial and temporal resolutions to quantify regional blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability in the living human brain across aging and in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. They assessed BBB integrity in hippocampal subregions (CA1 and dentate gyrus) and analyzed cerebrospinal fluid for markers of pericyte injury.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical values, sample sizes, or statistical metrics. It reports an age-dependent BBB breakdown localized to the hippocampus and its CA1 and dentate gyrus subdivisions, which worsened in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and correlated with cerebrospinal fluid indicators of pericyte injury.
Why it matters
The study shows that microvascular and pericyte damage in the hippocampus occurs early in human brain aging and cognitive impairment, highlighting BBB failure as an early pathological feature before advanced dementia.
Limits
The abstract omits sample size, participant demographics, quantitative effect sizes, and imaging parameters. The observational design cannot prove causality between BBB breakdown and cognitive impairment.
Cited by
- supports The functional integrity of the blood-brain barrier declines as humans age.