Figure 4
Antioxidant vitamins protect against TS-dependent loss of BBB viability and integrity. Under the exposure to pulsatile flow in presence of abluminal astrocytes and circulating THP-1 cells the vascular endothelium formed a stable highly impermeable barrier (TEER ≈ 1200 Ohm/cm2) (Panel A -left). Exposure to TS at concentrations equivalent to yield by 20 cigarettes/day or more higher caused a loss of BBB integrity (Panel A -right) which was paralleled by a significant and proportional (to TS exposure) release of AK (Panel B). The loss of BBB integrity during TS exposure (≅ 20 cigarettes) was most significantly reduced by the combined pre-treatment with vitamins C and E (Panel C) as also demonstrated by the parallel decrease in AK release (Panel D) and that of pro-inflammatory mediators IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α (Panel E). The described experiments were performed in quadruplicates (n = 4).