How to Use blood-brain barrier in a Sentence

blood-brain barrier

noun
  • At the base of the brain sits a dense constellation of cells known as the blood-brain barrier.
    Donna Jackson Nakazawa, Wired, 21 Jan. 2020
  • This structure is called the blood-brain barrier, or BBB for short, and the drug should not have been able to pass through it.
    Daniela Kaufer, Scientific American, 23 Apr. 2021
  • Most drugs can’t pass through the blood-brain barrier, a living border wall around the brain.
    Megan Molteni, Wired, 15 Apr. 2020
  • The caffeine in coffee tightens up the blood-brain barrier and can decrease how much of the drug makes it to your brain.
    Courtney Southwick, Health, 23 July 2024
  • In fact, some parts of the brain don’t have a traditional blood-brain barrier at all.
    Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 20 June 2023
  • The particles were also able to cross the blood-brain barrier.
    Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC News, 16 Sep. 2024
  • The team also found that clusterin readily attached to the cells that form the blood-brain barrier.
    Emily Willingham, Scientific American, 8 Dec. 2021
  • With its added methyl-group molecule, Pervitin races across the blood-brain barrier a bit faster than Benzedrine.
    Fox News, 25 June 2019
  • The procedure to open the blood-brain barrier only takes four minutes and is performed while the patient is awake.
    Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 3 May 2023
  • Better yet, two of them were already known to cross the blood-brain barrier, so could potentially reach the cells that Parkinson's kills.
    John Timmer, Ars Technica, 2 Sep. 2017
  • In children, particularly under the age of 10 or babies in the womb, the metal can pass through the blood-brain barrier and kill off brain cells.
    Julia Belluz, Vox, 30 Mar. 2018
  • In children, particularly those under the age of 10 or babies in the womb, the metal can pass through the blood-brain barrier and kill off brain cells.
    Julia Belluz, Vox, 27 Sep. 2018
  • In crossing the blood-brain barrier, caffeine can act on the central nervous system.
    Science & Food, Discover Magazine, 29 Sep. 2015
  • What leukotriene modifiers such as Singulair are not supposed to do is cross the blood-brain barrier.
    Joanna Thompson, Scientific American, 19 Jan. 2024
  • One of the most influential researchers on the role of the blood-brain barrier in stroke and Alzheimer’s, Zlokovic was the only common author across the 37 papers, and the senior author on 29.
    Bycharles Piller, science.org, 8 Nov. 2024
  • This is also the first study that shows how quickly the blood-brain barrier closes after being opened by the ultrasound.
    Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 3 May 2023
  • These cytokines are seemingly able to cross the semipermeable network of capillaries that connect the brain to the rest of the body (known as the blood-brain barrier).
    Claire Maldarelli, Popular Science, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Some forms of magnesium may not readily cross the blood-brain barrier.
    Allison Herries, Verywell Health, 10 Sep. 2024
  • That’s because the brain is surrounded by a semipermeable membrane called the blood-brain barrier.
    Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC News, 16 Sep. 2024
  • Damage to the blood-brain barrier caused by inflammation can result in the brain's inability to send messages from the brain to other parts of the body.
    Dr. Odelia Lewis and Sony Salzman, ABC News, 30 July 2021
  • There are even species whose neurotoxic compounds get through our own blood-brain barrier, a feat that no wasp venom can yet achieve.
    Christie Wilcox, Scientific American, 1 May 2017
  • Due to the blood-brain barrier, biomarkers couldn’t be found in sufficient quantities.
    Tribune News Service, oregonlive, 25 Nov. 2021
  • Too much inflammation can also break down the protective wall known as the blood-brain barrier and lead to brain swelling, seizures or spread of infection.
    Dr. Minali Nigam and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, 29 July 2020
  • Unlike most pathogens, Toxoplasma can cross the blood-brain barrier and invade brain cells.
    Bill Sullivan, Discover Magazine, 12 Aug. 2024
  • Researchers have found signs that the virus can establish a foothold of sorts on the periphery of the brain, where the protective blood-brain barrier opens up to allow key molecules to slip through.
    Amina Khan Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2021
  • The powerful blood-brain barrier, the thinking goes, keeps the organ mostly free from outside invaders.
    Yasemin Saplakoglu, WIRED, 5 Jan. 2025
  • The glowing gold stars are astrocytes: these cells control the permeability of the blood-brain barrier and are named for their starlike shape.
    Liz Tormes, Scientific American, 26 Aug. 2022
  • Research on microplastics in the body is still new, and whether these microscopic bits of plastic can pass through the blood-brain barrier in humans is still a big question.
    Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC News, 16 Sep. 2024
  • These metals also have the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, a feature of the human nervous system that defends the brain from pathogens and toxins in the blood, according to a 2015 study.
    Sudiksha Kochi, USA TODAY, 26 Jan. 2022
  • This study suggests that small-particle HDL might help maintain this gray matter by crossing the blood-brain barrier to support brain function and protect against atrophy.
    Hannah Singleton, Health, 15 Jan. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blood-brain barrier.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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