Cited by 521Barrier Structure and Function StudiesDrug Transport and Resistance MechanismsNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms

What is the blood–brain barrier (not)?

Bechmann, Ingo, Galea, Ian, Perry, V. Hugh·2007·Trends in Immunology

Abstract

In 1900, summarizing his experiments with toxins and Ehrlich's earlier observations with intravital dyes, the Berlin physician Lewandowski concluded that "brain capillaries must hold back certain molecules". Illustrating this phenomenon with persuasive beauty, the subsequently evolving metaphor of a 'Bluthirnschranke' (blood-brain barrier, BBB) gained wide acceptance, but the extension of its meaning into the context of inhibiting leukocyte recruitment into the brain is imprecise. On the basis of the original work by Ehrlich, Lewandowski and Goldmann we re-define the BBB as a capillary barrier for solutes, and clarify that leukocyte recruitment requires two differentially regulated steps: (i) passage across postcapillary venules into Virchow-Robin spaces, and (ii) subsequent progression across the glia limitans into the neuropil. We propose that the second step frequently involves perivascular antigen-recognition and the induction of ectoenzymes, for example matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs).

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.it.2006.11.007

Cites

104 of 104 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Macrophages express degrading enzymes like MMPs that break down the astrocytic barrier, exacerbating infiltration from the vasculature into the parenchyma.

    “Macrophages express degrading enzymes like matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) that break down the astrocytic barrier that exacerbates infiltration from the vasculature into the parenchyma (Bechmann et al, 2007).”

    From Repeated Social Defeat, Neuroinflammation, and Behavior: Monocytes Carry the Signal (2017) · cites this paper as Bechmann et al, 2007

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. 1 Trumble, W. and Brown, L., eds (1973) The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary , Oxford University Press.
  2. 46 Corcione, A. et al. (2004) Recapitulation of B cell differentiation in the central nervous system of patients with multiple sclerosis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A 101, 11064-11069

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Bechmann, I., Galea, I., & Perry, V. H.
Affiliations
  • Goethe University Frankfurt (DE)
  • University of Southampton (GB)
Corresponding author
Bechmann, Ingo
Venue
Trends in Immunology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2007-01
Volume
28
Issue
1
Pages
5-11
ISSN
1471-4906 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2145053539
Cited by
520
References
56
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 36 · 2015: 24 · 2014: 28 · 2013: 47 · 2012: 41
FWCI
3.22
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Trends in Immunology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
Funders
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 507 B-16)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Barrier Structure and Function Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Drug Transport and Resistance Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
Keywords
blood-brain barrier, Ehrlich, postcapillary venules, perivascular spaces, glia limitans, matrix metalloproteinases, ectoenzymes
MeSH terms
Blood-Brain Barrier, Brain, Humans, Models, Immunological

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review