Abstract
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is the main barrier between blood and brain. Its purpose is to maintain homeostasis in and protection of the central nervous system. Therefore, under normal physiological conditions, the BBB is impermeable for endotoxins, but also for exotoxins like drugs. In the endothelial cells of the BBB, different active influx, but also active drug efflux transporters are presents. An example of drug efflux pumps is P-glycoprotein (P-gp) drug efflux pumps, which are encoded by MDR1 genes in humans. A different P-gp expression in the blood-brain barrier can play a role in the aetiology of several brain disorders. For this reason, there is a need to develop an assay for the quantification P-gp functionality in the BBB. We discuss, the relationship of P-gp and brain pathology and the involvement of age in loss of P-gp function. Furthermore, drugs treatment of brain diseases like Alzheimers's disease and Parkinson's disease are often not effective. Therefore, we discuss the relationship between P-gp and drug availability. In this chapter, an overview is given in the use of positron emission tomography as a tool for measuring P-gp function in the area of neurology, neurophysiology and pharmacology.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Handbook of Neurochemistry and Molecular Neurobiology |
Subtitle of host publication | Neural Membranes and Transport |
Publisher | Springer US |
Pages | 99-107 |
Number of pages | 9 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780387303468 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Dec 2007 |