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As its name implies, the blood brain barrier protects the brain from whatever happens to flow in the blood stream. The herpes virus enters the brain by another
by pygy_ 8y ago
As its name implies, the blood brain barrier protects the brain from whatever happens to flow in the blood stream. The herpes virus enters the brain by another channel : the peripheral, somatosensory nerve cells whose axon has a T shape. One prong of the top bar goes to the peripheral tissue, and the other prong goes up to the brainstem.
- dnautics 8y agothanks for the explanation! That wasn't clear to someone who has enough biochemistry and biology to be dangerous but with no experience in physiology.
- pygy_ 8y agoYou're welcome! Expanding further: the blood brain barrier is made of cytoplasmic expansions of astrocytes in the central nervous system. The T-shape sensory cells are part of the peripheral nervous system, their axon ends up in the encephalon.