Blood brain barrier dysfunction in cerebral small vessel disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of blood brain barrier dysfunction in cerebral small vessel disease
IRAS ID
297513
Contact name
Hedley Emsley
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The brain needs a constant supply of energy and oxygen to work effectively. These are delivered by the bloodstream, which also removes waste. The blood-brain barrier separates the blood vessels from brain tissue and allows essential molecules to rapidly cross the barrier, but harmful chemicals cannot enter the brain.
Currently, we have no suitable method of assessing blood-brain barrier function in living patients. Being able to measure its function would allow us to better diagnose, monitor and potentially develop new treatments for a range of problems affecting the brain.
The blood-brain barrier is damaged in a number of conditions. These include stroke, when a single large artery gets blocked, as well as small vessel disease, where the tiny blood vessels supplying the brain tissue are affected. Damage to the blood-brain barrier causes a number of problems including leakage of toxins into the brain which can harm the brain cells. Stroke and small vessel disease are important causes of dementia.
The WEX-BRAIN project is supported by four inter-related EPSRC grants (EPSRC references EP/S031510/1, EP/S031367/1, EP/S031332/1 and EP/S031375/1) totalling £920,622 and is developing new ways of assessing blood-brain barrier function using MRI scans, focussing on how water is able to pass across this barrier. We have already begun testing these new types of scan in the lab. We intend to test these new measurements for the first time in patients with stroke and small vessel disease and compare them to healthy volunteers. In addition, patients will also have a series of memory tests to accurately measure brain function.
The outcome will be new tools to enable doctors to diagnose and treat patients more effectively within 5 years.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/YH/0119
Date of REC Opinion
23 Jul 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion