blood-brain barrier

English

Noun

blood-brain barrier (plural blood-brain barriers)

1. (anatomy) A structure in the central nervous system (CNS) that keeps various substances found in the bloodstream out of the brain while allowing in the substances essential to metabolic function, e.g. oxygen.
   • 2010, Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies, Fourth Estate (2011), page 147:

     The brain and spinal cord are insulated by a tight cellular seal called the blood-brain barrier that prevents foreign chemicals from easily getting into the brain.

Synonyms

• hematoencephalic barrier (rare)
• BBB

Holonyms

• central nervous system

Translations

structure in the central nervous system

• Czech: hematoencefalická bariéra f
• Finnish: veri-aivoeste (fi)
• French: barrière hémato-encéphalique (fr) f
• Hungarian: vér-agy gát (hu)
• Polish: bariera krew-mózg f
• Portuguese: barreira hematoencefálica f
• Spanish: barrera hematoencefálica f
• Thai: ตัวกั้นระหว่างเลือดกับสมอง (dtuua-gân-rá-wàang-lʉ̂ʉat-gàp-sà-mɔ̌ɔng)