Faculty, Staff and Student Publications
Publication Date
11-4-2024
Journal
eLife
Abstract
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a pivotal role in protecting the central nervous system (CNS), and shielding it from potential harmful entities. A natural decline of BBB function with aging has been reported in both animal and human studies, which may contribute to cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disorders. Limited data also suggest that being female may be associated with protective effects on BBB function. Here, we investigated age and sex-dependent trajectories of perfusion and BBB water exchange rate (kw) across the lifespan in 186 cognitively normal participants spanning the ages of 8-92 years old, using a non-invasive diffusion-prepared pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (DP-pCASL) MRI technique. We found that the pattern of BBB kw decline with aging varies across brain regions. Moreover, results from our DP-pCASL technique revealed a remarkable decline in BBB kw beginning in the early 60 s, which was more pronounced in males. In addition, we observed sex differences in parietal and temporal regions. Our findings provide in vivo results demonstrating sex differences in the decline of BBB function with aging, which may serve as a foundation for future investigations into perfusion and BBB function in neurodegenerative and other brain disorders.
Keywords
Humans, Blood-Brain Barrier, Female, Aged, Male, Aged, 80 and over, Adult, Aging, Middle Aged, Adolescent, Young Adult, Child, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Parietal Lobe, Temporal Lobe, Sex Factors, Sex Characteristics, aging, arterial spin labeling, blood-brain barrier, human, neuroscience, sex difference, water exchange rate
DOI
10.7554/eLife.96155
PMID
39495221
PMCID
PMC11534331
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
11-4-2024
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Post-print
Published Open-Access
yes
Included in
Medical Sciences Commons, Mental and Social Health Commons, Psychiatry Commons, Psychiatry and Psychology Commons