Mechanisms by which sleep disorders disrupt the blood-brain barrier (BBB) (IMAGE)
Caption
Major sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), chronic insomnia, sleep deprivation, and sleep fragmentation, trigger upstream stressors such as intermittent hypoxia, autonomic activation, inflammatory signaling, gut dysbiosis, and circadian misalignment. These disturbances converge on oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, pericyte dysfunction, tight junction loss, and altered endothelial transport, leading to increased BBB permeability, neurovascular unit instability, and impaired clearance. These changes may ultimately promote protein accumulation, white matter injury, and cognitive decline.
Credit
Mengyao Li, Yingni Lin, Xixi Chen, Ke Huang, Junqi Lin, Zixuan Hua, Xinxin Ran, Yiyang Shen, Chunli Ban, Kexin Xia, Qingyun Li.
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CC BY-NC-ND