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Comment
. 2020 May;36(5):557-560.
doi: 10.1007/s12264-019-00456-8. Epub 2020 Jan 1.

Meningeal Lymphatic Vessels: A Drain of the Brain Involved in Neurodegeneration?

Yuan Cheng  1 , Yan-Jiang Wang  2   3   4
Affiliations
Comment

Meningeal Lymphatic Vessels: A Drain of the Brain Involved in Neurodegeneration?

Yuan Cheng et al. Neurosci Bull. 2020 May.
No abstract available

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no financial or other conflicts of interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Pathways of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage from the brain to the periphery. ① Meningeal lymphatics pathway: CSF flows to meningeal lymphatic vessels mainly via the basal component, and then flows to the deep cervical lymph nodes. ② Venous sinus pathway: CSF drains directly into the venous sinuses via arachnoid villi. ③ Perineural pathway: CSF drains to the cervical lymph nodes along cranial nerves (such as the olfactory, optic, and trigeminal nerves). ④ Glymphatic and paravascular pathways: CSF flows from the subarachnoid space into the brain parenchyma via peri-arterial spaces, exchanges with interstitial fluid (ISF), then flows back to the subarachnoid space via peri-venous spaces. ⑤ Perivascular pathway: ISF diffuses through extracellular spaces in the brain, enters through basement membranes in the tunica media of arteries, and eventually drains from the brain parenchyma to the cervical lymph nodes along perivascular pathways. ⑥ Blood-brain barrier (BBB) pathway: ISF drains from the brain parenchyma into the blood via the BBB. Impairment of these pathways is thought to result in the abnormal accumulation of metabolic waste and pathological proteins, such as Aβ and phosphorylated tau, in the brain.
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References

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