Endothelial cells are the main component of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a vital structure for maintaining brain homeostasis that is seriously disrupted in various neurological pathologies. Therefore, vascular-targeted therapies may bring advantages for the prevention and treatment of brain disorders. In this sense, novel methods to identify and evaluate endothelial damage have been developed and include the detection of circulating endothelial cells, endothelial progenitor cells, endothelial microparticles and exosomes. These cells and cellular structures have been documented in numerous diseases, and increasingly in neurodegenerative disorders, which have led many to assume that they can either be possible biomarkers or tools of repair. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to discuss available data on BBB endothelial damage occurring in two pathologies of the central nervous system, Alzheimer's disease and stroke, which exemplify conditions where chronic and acute vascular damage occur, respectively. The ultimate goal is to identify useful biomarkers and/or therapeutic tools in the healthy and diseased brain that can be used for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases where BBB permeability and integrity are impaired.
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Blood-brain barrier; Brain microvascular endothelial cells; Circulating endothelial cells; Endothelial microparticles; Endothelial progenitor cells; Exosomes; Stroke.
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