Cell Reports (Oct 2017)

Evolutionarily Conserved Roles for Blood-Brain Barrier Xenobiotic Transporters in Endogenous Steroid Partitioning and Behavior

  • Samantha J. Hindle,
  • Roeben N. Munji,
  • Elena Dolghih,
  • Garrett Gaskins,
  • Souvinh Orng,
  • Hiroshi Ishimoto,
  • Allison Soung,
  • Michael DeSalvo,
  • Toshihiro Kitamoto,
  • Michael J. Keiser,
  • Matthew P. Jacobson,
  • Richard Daneman,
  • Roland J. Bainton

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 21, no. 5
pp. 1304 – 1316

Abstract

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Summary: Central nervous system (CNS) chemical protection depends upon discrete control of small-molecule access by the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Curiously, some drugs cause CNS side-effects despite negligible transit past the BBB. To investigate this phenomenon, we asked whether the highly BBB-enriched drug efflux transporter MDR1 has dual functions in controlling drug and endogenous molecule CNS homeostasis. If this is true, then brain-impermeable drugs could induce behavioral changes by affecting brain levels of endogenous molecules. Using computational, genetic, and pharmacologic approaches across diverse organisms, we demonstrate that BBB-localized efflux transporters are critical for regulating brain levels of endogenous steroids and steroid-regulated behaviors (sleep in Drosophila and anxiety in mice). Furthermore, we show that MDR1-interacting drugs are associated with anxiety-related behaviors in humans. We propose a general mechanism for common behavioral side effects of prescription drugs: pharmacologically challenging BBB efflux transporters disrupts brain levels of endogenous substrates and implicates the BBB in behavioral regulation. : Hindle et al. shed light on the curious finding that some drugs cause behavioral side-effects despite negligible access into the brain. These authors propose a unifying hypothesis that links blood-brain barrier drug transporter function and brain access of circulating steroids to common CNS adverse drug responses. Keywords: drug side effect mechanisms, central nervous system, blood brain barrier, behavior, toxicology, drug transporters, endobiotics, steroid hormones