TY - JOUR AU - Giannoni, Patrizia AU - Claeysen, Sylvie AU - Noe, Francesco AU - Marchi, Nicola PY - 2020 M3 - Review TI - Peripheral Routes to Neurodegeneration: Passing Through the Blood–Brain Barrier JO - Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience UR - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnagi.2020.00003 VL - 12 SN - 1663-4365 N2 - A bidirectional crosstalk between peripheral players of immunity and the central nervous system (CNS) exists. Hence, blood–brain barrier (BBB) breakdown is emerging as a participant mechanism of dysregulated peripheral–CNS interplay, promoting diseases. Here, we examine the implication of BBB damage in neurodegeneration, linking it to peripheral brain-directed autoantibodies and gut–brain axis mechanisms. As BBB breakdown is a factor contributing to, or even anticipating, neuronal dysfunction(s), we here identify contemporary pharmacological strategies that could be exploited to repair the BBB in disease conditions. Developing neurovascular, add on, therapeutic strategies may lead to a more efficacious pre-clinical to clinical transition with the goal of curbing the progression of neurodegeneration. ER -