Brain tumor-associated cerebral edema arises because tumor capillaries lack normal blood-brain barrier function; vascular permeability factor (VPF, also known as vascular endothelial growth factor, VEGF) is a likely mediator of this phenomenon. Clinically, dexamethasone reduces brain tumor-associated vascular permeability through poorly understood mechanisms. Our goals were to determine if supp...

BACKGROUND Long-term non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) intake may induce increased intestinal permeability, eventually resulting in enteropathy. Because increased permeability might be related to cell damage resulting from energy depletion, it was hypothesized that glutamine--the major energy source of the intestinal mucosal cell--might prevent permeability changes. METHODS The 6-h...

Background—A familial defect in intestinal barrier function has been found in Crohn’s disease. Aim—To investigate possible genetic and environmental influences on this barrier defect by studying intestinal permeability in both relatives and spouses of patients with Crohn’s disease. Subjects—The study included 39 patients with Crohn’s disease, 34 healthy first degree relatives, and 22 spouses. T...

The role of changes in blood-brain barrier permeability in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy remains uncertain. To test the hypothesis that brain microvessel permeability is nonselectively increased in hepatic encephalopathy we measured the blood-brain barrier permeability-surface area product in rats with acute liver failure induced by intraperitoneal injection of galactosamine. The p...

Protons and sodium ions are the only used coupling ions in energy transduction in Bacteria and Archaea. At their growth temperature, the permeability of the cytoplasmic membrane of thermophilic bacteria to protons is high as compared to sodium ions. In some thermophiles, therefore, sodium is the sole energy coupling ion. Comparison of the protonand sodium permeability of the membranes of variet...

Recently neuro-inflammation and cognitive impairment has attracted attention. It has been suggested that obesity lead to cognitive impairments induced by neuro-inflammatory markers like nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) and reduced neurotrophin factors like brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. Also, increased blood brain barrier (BBB) permeability. Because of the neuro-prot...