Permeability of Cerebral Blood Vessels Studied by Radioactive Iodinated Bovine Albumin

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Abstract
Permeability of cerebral blood vessels to protein molecules was studied in cats under normal and pathological conditions. Bovine serum albumin labeled with I131 was injected intravenously and contact autoradiography technique was applied to test the efficiency of the blood brain barrier in relation to large size molecules. Under normal circumstances, cerebral blood vessels were impermeable to molecules of serum albumin. Heat injury and air embolism produced breakdown of blood brain barrier, in the case of air embolism mostly on the precapillary level. A series of 60 electrically-induced convulsive seizures given over a period of 6 hours resulted in a pronounced concentration of radioactivity in certain areas of gray matter, particularly in the thalamus and hypothalamus. This phenomenon was not observed if the tagged albumin was injected immediately following the seizures. The intensity of radioactivity in affected regions was proportional to the number of seizures given. An attempt to reproduce the same effect by venous congestion and brain edema was unsuccessful.

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