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Astrocytic modulation of blood brain barrier: perspectives on Parkinson's disease
Cabezas R, Avila M, Gonzalez J, El-Bachá RS, Báez E, García-Segura LM, Jurado Coronel JC, Capani F et al.. Frontiers in cellular neuroscience, 2014-08-04
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a tightly regulated interface in the Central Nervous System (CNS) that regulates the exchange of molecules in and out from the brain thus maintaining the CNS homeostasis. It is mainly composed of endothelial cells (ECs), pericytes and astrocytes that create a neurovascular unit (NVU) with the adjacent neurons. Astrocytes are essential for the formation and maintenance of the BBB by providing secreted factors that lead to the adequate association between the cells of the BBB and the formation of strong tight junctions.
Key findings
- It is mainly composed of endothelial cells (ECs), pericytes and astrocytes that create a neurovascular unit (NVU) with the adjacent neurons.
- Astrocytes are essential for the formation and maintenance of the BBB by providing secreted factors that lead to the adequate association between the cells of the BBB and the formation of strong tight junctions.
- Under neurological disorders, such as chronic cerebral ischemia, brain trauma, Epilepsy, Alzheimer and Parkinson's Diseases, a disruption of the BBB takes place, involving a lost in the permeability of the barrier and phenotypical changes in both the ECs and astrocytes.
- In this aspect, it has been established that the process of reactive gliosis is a common feature of astrocytes during BBB disruption, which has a detrimental effect on the barrier function and a subsequent damage in neuronal survival.
Why it matters
This review describes how astrocytes help form and maintain the blood-brain barrier, and notes that this barrier is disrupted in neurological disorders including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. It reports no treatment or prevention finding, only a possible disease mechanism.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 48/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Frontiers in cellular neuroscience) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience: journal h-index 175 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2014 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 442 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 31.6 citations a year over 14 year(s) since 2014 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 12.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 1 / 6 | Cited by 2 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 111 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author George Emilio Barreto: h-index 72 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas: institution h-index 639 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 4 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 25136294) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 48 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.3389/fncel.2014.00211
- PubMed: 25136294
- Original source →
- Free full text: Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Cabezas, R., Avila, M., Gonzalez, J., El-Bachá, R. S., Báez, E., García-Segura, L. M., et al. (2014). Astrocytic modulation of blood brain barrier: perspectives on Parkinson's disease. Frontiers in cellular neuroscience. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2014.00211
Vancouver
Cabezas R, Avila M, Gonzalez J, El-Bachá RS, Báez E, García-Segura LM, et al. Astrocytic modulation of blood brain barrier: perspectives on Parkinson's disease. Frontiers in cellular neuroscience. 2014. doi:10.3389/fncel.2014.00211. PMID: 25136294.
BibTeX
@article{cabezas2014-25136294,
author = {Cabezas, R. and Avila, M. and Gonzalez, J. and El-Bachá, R. S. and Báez, E. and García-Segura, L. M. and Jurado Coronel, J. C. and Capani, F. and others},
title = {{Astrocytic modulation of blood brain barrier: perspectives on Parkinson's disease}},
journal = {Frontiers in cellular neuroscience},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.3389/fncel.2014.00211},
pmid = {25136294},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2014.00211}
}
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