Methods to Study Drug Uptake at the Blood-Brain Barrier Following Experimental Ischemic Stroke: In Vitro and In Vivo Approaches

Abstract

Drug permeability across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is an important concept in the development of therapeutic strategies to treat neurological diseases such as ischemic stroke. These mechanisms can be evaluated in detail using cultured brain microvascular endothelial cells or intact animals subjected to experimental stroke. Here, we describe state-of-the-art approaches to study BBB transport of therapeutics using our in vitro and in vivo approaches. These methodologies allow for precise determination of transporter kinetic properties for currently marketed therapeutics or for new chemical entities that are under development as stroke drugs.

Keywords: Blood-brain barrier; Brain drug disposition; Drug permeability; Drug transport; Neurotherapeutics; Stroke pharmacotherapy.