Hemodynamic shear stress is the most powerful physiological regulator of endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS), leading to rapid rises in nitric oxide (NO). The substantial increases in uterine and placental blood flows throughout gestation rely heavily on the action of NO. We and others have investigated endothelial function in response to shear stress with cell culture models of shear stre...

Spinal cord injury induces the disruption of blood-spinal cord barrier and triggers a complex array of tissue responses, including endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and autophagy. However, the roles of ER stress and autophagy in blood-spinal cord barrier disruption have not been discussed in acute spinal cord trauma. In the present study, we respectively detected the roles of ER stress and auto...

Shear stress on blood cells and platelets transported in a turbulent flow dictates the fate and biological activity of these cells. We present a theoretical link between energy dissipation in turbulent flows to the shear stress that cells experience and show that for the case of physiological turbulent blood flow: (a) the Newtonian assumption is valid, (b) turbulent eddies are universal for the...

Overview Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) causes brain injury in 3 major ways. Firstly there is the mass effect of the initial bleed, haematoma expansion and oedema formation, which increases intracranial pressure causing distortion of brain structures, and mechanical damage to cells. Secondly, there is neuroinflammation that results in secondary brain damage following ICH, through glial activat...

Shear stress, a mechanical force created by blood flow, is known to affect the developing cardiovascular system. Shear stress is a function of both shear rate and viscosity. While established techniques for measuring shear rate in embryos have been developed, the viscosity of embryonic blood has never been known but always assumed to be like adult blood. Blood is a non-Newtonian fluid, where th...

Overview Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) causes brain injury in 3 major ways. Firstly there is the mass effect of the initial bleed, haematoma expansion and oedema formation, which increases intracranial pressure causing distortion of brain structures, and mechanical damage to cells. Secondly, there is neuroinflammation that results in secondary brain damage following ICH, through glial activat...

The ability of the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) to maintain proper barrier functions, keeping an optimal environment for central nervous system (CNS) activity and regulating leukocytes' access, can be affected in CNS diseases. Endothelial cells and astrocytes are the principal BBB cellular constituents and their interaction is essential to maintain its function. Both endothelial cells and astrocyt...

During severe impact conditions, brain tissue experiences a rapid and complex deformation, which can be seen as a mixture of compression, tension and shear. Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) occurs in animals and humans when both the strains and strain rates exceed 10% and 10/s, respectively. Knowing the mechanical properties of brain tissue in shear at these strains and strain rates is thus of parti...

AIDS dementia complex (ADC) is characterized by increased apoptosis, gliosis, and oxidative stress in the CNS, as well as a compromised blood-brain barrier. TNF-alpha has been shown to be elevated in AIDS dementia complex brains and may contribute to AIDS dementia complex. To model elevated TNF-alpha in AIDS dementia complex, TNF-alpha was infused ICV bilaterally into rats for 3 days. TNF-alpha...

Introduction: The blood-brain barrier (BBB) plays a major role in controlling the microenvironment of the brain. Drug delivery to the brain is restricted by the presence of the BBB. It is actually selectively permeable to nutrients necessary for healthy brain function. Material and Methods: Various search engines like pubmed , medline and cochrane database were searched for various articles. Re...