Blood–Brain Barrier and Stroke

Stroke disintegrates communications within a highly dynamic and regulated ensemble of cells that constitutes the blood–brain barrier (BBB), endothelial cells, astrocytic end feet that surround blood vessels, the basement membrane (BM)/extracellular matrix (ECM), and pericytes, inducing and propagating injury. We discuss the effects of experimental stroke on individual cell constituents of the BBB and how these changes affect structural and functional integrity of the BBB in relation to acute injury and repair. The age at the time of stroke, from the newborn period to adulthood and older, can markedly affect the particulars of deregulation, processes that we also discuss in this chapter.