Author: Huber, J. D.

Source: Current Pharmaceutical Design, Volume 14, Number 16, June 2008 , pp. 1594-1600(7)

Publisher: Bentham Science Publishers

Abstract:

From a complications standpoint, diabetes mellitus is a disease of the vasculature. Diabetics face a considerably higher risk of developing cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Both large and small blood vessels are susceptible to alterations from diabetes. Endothelial cell dysfunction associated with small vessel (known as microangiopathy) is a primary factor in the development and progression of diabetes-related disabilities, including blindness, kidney failure, and peripheral neuropathy. Recent clinical evidence show that people with diabetes have increased incidences of vascular dementia, ventricular hypertrophy, lacunar infarcts, hemorrhage, and may be a predisposing factor for Alzheimer's disease. However, the effects of diabetes mellitus on the cerebral microvascular are still largely unknown. This communication will review the relationship between diabetes mellitus and changes in cognition with a particular focus on how alterations in blood-brain barrier structure and function may play a long term role in worsened cognitive abilities.

Keywords: Permeability; dementia; cerebral blood flow; microvessels; tight junctions; transport

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/138161208784705441

Affiliations: 1: Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences, West Virginia University, P.O. Box 9530, Morgantown,WV 26506, USA.

Publication date: 2008-06-01

More about this publication?

• Current Pharmaceutical Design publishes timely in-depth reviews covering all aspects of current research in rational drug design. Each issue is devoted to a single major therapeutic area. A Guest Editor who is an acknowledged authority in a therapeutic field has solicits for each issue comprehensive and timely reviews from leading researchers in the pharmaceutical industry and academia.
  
  Each thematic issue of Current Pharmaceutical Design covers all subject areas of major importance to modern drug design, including: medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, drug targets and disease mechanism.

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