The blood brain barrier and Lina Solomonovna Stern (Shtern)

Abstract

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) regulates the transport of molecules between the central nervous system (CNS) and blood. It consists of two components: the vascular endothelial cells forming so–called tight junctions, and the blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier. It plays an important role in the pathogenesis and in recovery from many cerebrospinal disorders. Paul Ehrlich was the first to observe in mice that intravenously injected acidic dyes stained the tissues of the body but not the brain. He deduced there was a barrier between systemic blood and nervous tissues. His pupil Lewandowsky visualised a capillary wall that blocked the entrance of certain molecules. And, Edwin Goldman injected trypan blue into the CSF and observed that the brain but no peripheral organs was stained — indicating the dye could not cross from CSF to the systemic bloodstream, but could leave the blood vessels of the choroid plexuses within the ventricles to enter the brain tissues. Experiments of the heroic Russian Lina Solomonova Stern (Shtern), persecuted by Stalin, formulated the rule that every substance contained in the blood must penetrate the cerebrospinal fluid before it can exercise its effects on the nerve elements; she named the blood–brain barrier: barrière hémato–encéphalique.