ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Stroke
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1682748
This article is part of the Research TopicBrain Cytoprotection for Reperfusion Injury after Acute Ischemic StrokeView all 8 articles
Vascular Recanalization Exacerbates BBB Permeability After Ischemic stroke
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China, GuangZhou, China
- 2Affiliated Brain Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China
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Introduction: Ischemic stroke is a common and serious neurological disease. After cerebral ischemia occurs, the integrity of the BBB is disrupted, leading to increased permeability, causing pathophysiological changes such as brain edema and hemorrhagic transformation, which aggravates neuronal damage. Such changes become more obvious after the recovery of blood flow. However, the effect of vascular recanalization on blood-brain barrier leakage is poorly known. Methods: Mice were divided into the recanalization group and the non-recanalization group. Mice in the recanalization group suffered from the middle cerebral artery occlusion and were reperfused 60 minutes later. Mice in the non-recanalization group suffered from permanent occlusion of the middle cerebral artery. The permeability of the blood-brain barrier was tested using fluorescence staining, and the expression of tight junction proteins and transcytosis-related proteins were analyzed by western blot. Results: The IgG results revealed a significantly larger area of leakage in the recanalization group compared to the non-recanalization group. A consistent trend was observed in the FITC-dextran This is a provisional file, not the final typeset article leakage experiment. Moreover, after blood flow recanalization, there was a significant reduction in tight junctions-related proteins, occludin and ZO-1. Meanwhile, both ischemia and reperfusion caused changes in the ratio of transcytosis related protein Caveolin-1 /MFSD2a, and this is more obvious in the blood flow recanalization group. Conclusion: Vascular recanalization can exacerbate blood-brain barrier disruption, concurrently impairing both the paracellular and transcytosis pathways. This finding provides a rationale for exploring new approaches for protecting the integrity of the blood-brain barrier, reducing its permeability, and lowering the risk of hemorrhagic transformation.
Keywords: ischemic stroke, recanalization, Blood-Brain Barrier, Tight Junctions, Transcytosis
Received: 09 Aug 2025; Accepted: 19 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Liu and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Chang-Hui Chen, copaiziji@126.com
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