blood-brain barrier disruption
Meaning of blood-brain barrier disruption: Blood-brain barrier disruption is a technique that temporarily increases the barrier's permeability to allow greater passage of therapeutic substances into brain tissue.
Definition of blood-brain barrier disruption
Blood-brain barrier disruption refers to techniques used to temporarily increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier, the network of tightly joined blood vessels and supporting cells that normally limits which substances can pass from the bloodstream into brain tissue. Approaches used to achieve this include certain osmotic agents, focused ultrasound, and specific drugs that loosen the connections between cells forming the barrier.
Because the blood-brain barrier normally blocks many larger molecules, including some medications, from reaching brain tissue, temporarily disrupting it has been explored as a way to improve delivery of treatments for conditions such as brain tumors and certain other neurological diseases.
This increased permeability is intended to be temporary and localized, and its use is balanced against the barrier's normal protective role, since the same barrier that blocks helpful medications also ordinarily protects the brain from other harmful substances circulating in the blood.
Used in a sentence
Focused ultrasound was used to achieve temporary blood-brain barrier disruption during the treatment.
Good to know
Blood-brain barrier disruption is a deliberate, temporary intervention distinct from the barrier's breakdown that can occur unintentionally with certain injuries or diseases, though both result in substances crossing into brain tissue that would normally be excluded.