Blood-brain barrier breakdown is an early biomarker of human cognitive dysfunction.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional observational biomarker and neuroimaging study
PubMed 30643288 · doi:10.1038/s41591-018-0297-y
What was done
Evaluated microvascular and blood-brain barrier (BBB) integrity in individuals with early cognitive dysfunction. Brain capillary mural cell (pericyte) damage was measured using cerebrospinal fluid soluble platelet-derived growth factor receptor-beta (sPDGFRbeta), and regional BBB permeability was measured using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), evaluated alongside classical Alzheimer's disease amyloid-beta and tau biomarkers.
What was found
Individuals with early cognitive dysfunction developed brain capillary damage and BBB breakdown in the hippocampus irrespective of amyloid-beta or tau biomarker status. The abstract reports no numerical values, sample sizes, or statistical metrics.
Why it matters
Shows that hippocampal BBB breakdown occurs as an early biomarker of human cognitive impairment independent of classical amyloid-beta and tau pathways, highlighting microvascular pericyte damage as a distinct pathological process.
Limits
The abstract reports no sample sizes, demographic characteristics, cognitive assessment scores, or numerical data. The observational design cannot prove causality, and longitudinal dementia progression is not described in the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Breakdown of the blood-brain barrier is emerging as one of the earliest signs of dementia.