Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Sep 7:14:1232304.
doi: 10.3389/fneur.2023.1232304. eCollection 2023.

Assessment of factors influencing glymphatic activity and implications for clinical medicine

Adam Gędek  1   2 , Dariusz Koziorowski  1 , Stanisław Szlufik  1
Affiliations
Review

Assessment of factors influencing glymphatic activity and implications for clinical medicine

Adam Gędek et al. Front Neurol. .

Abstract

The glymphatic system is a highly specialized fluid transport system in the central nervous system. It enables the exchange of the intercellular fluid of the brain, regulation of the movement of this fluid, clearance of unnecessary metabolic products, and, potentially, brain immunity. In this review, based on the latest scientific reports, we present the mechanism of action and function of the glymphatic system and look at the role of factors influencing its activity. Sleep habits, eating patterns, coexisting stress or hypertension, and physical activity can significantly affect glymphatic activity. Modifying them can help to change lives for the better. In the next section of the review, we discuss the connection between the glymphatic system and neurological disorders. Its association with many disease entities suggests that it plays a major role in the physiology of the whole brain, linking many pathophysiological pathways of individual diseases.

Keywords: AQP4; Alzheimer’s disease; Parkinson’s disease; glymphatic system; sleep.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Potential factors influencing glymphatic activity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Liao S, Padera TP. Lymphatic function and immune regulation in health and disease. Lymphat Res Biol. (2013) 11:136–43. doi: 10.1089/lrb.2013.0012, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang Z, Ying Z, Bosy-Westphal A, Zhang J, Heller M, Later W, et al. . Evaluation of specific metabolic rates of major organs and tissues: comparison between nonobese and obese women. Obesity (Silver Spring). (2012) 20:95–100. doi: 10.1038/oby.2011.256, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Absinta M, Ha S-K, Nair G, Sati P, Luciano NJ, Palisoc M, et al. . Human and nonhuman primate meninges harbor lymphatic vessels that can be visualized noninvasively by MRI. Elife. (2017) 6:e29738. doi: 10.7554/eLife.29738, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ahn JH, Cho H, Kim J-H, Kim SH, Ham J-S, Park I, et al. . Meningeal lymphatic vessels at the skull base drain cerebrospinal fluid. Nature. (2019) 572:62–6. doi: 10.1038/s41586-019-1419-5, PMID: - DOI - PubMed
    1. Louveau A, Smirnov I, Keyes TJ, Eccles JD, Rouhani SJ, Peske JD, et al. . Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatic vessels. Nature. (2015) 523:337–41. doi: 10.1038/nature14432, PMID: - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources