Disruption in the Blood-Brain Barrier: The Missing Link between Brain and Body Inflammation in Bipolar Disorder?

Figure 1

Proposed model of blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption in bipolar disorder. Increased BBB permeability through the endothelial cells (pink) and basal membrane (dark pink) may facilitate increased migration of inflammatory molecules into the brain. Activation of microglial cells (light orange) and an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) would amplify neuroinflammatory processes and ultimately induce damage in the myelin sheath, either directly via lipid/protein oxidation or indirectly via oligodendrocyte dysfunction (dark orange).