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Substances of abuse and the blood brain barrier: Interactions with physical exercise
Marta A Małkiewicz1, Andrzej Małecki2, Michal Toborek3
1Applied Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, Department of Human Physiology, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland; Department of Psychiatry, Medical University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland.
Abstract:
Substance use disorders pose a common medical, social and financial problem. Among the pathomechanisms of substance use disorders, the disruption and increased permeability of the blood-brain barrier has been recently revealed. Physical exercise appears to be a relatively inexpensive and feasible way to implement behavioral therapy counteracting the blood-brain barrier impairment. Concomitantly, there are also studies supporting a potential protective role of selected substances of abuse in maintaining the blood-brain barrier integrity. In this review, we aim to provide a summary on the modulatory influence of physical exercise, a non-pharmacological intervention, on the blood-brain barrier alterations caused by substances of abuse. Further studies are needed to understand the precise mechanisms that underlie various effects of physical exercise in substance use disorders.
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