Degradation of microvascular brain endothelial cell β-catenin after co-culture with activated neutrophils from patients undergoing cardiac surgery with prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass

The adhesion of highly activated neutrophils to cerebral microvascular endothelial cells (MVECs) may contribute to disruption and hyperpermeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) after cardiac surgery with prolonged cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). A correlation between CPB duration and neutrophil-mediated BBB damage has not been investigated on the cellular level yet. Therefore, we studied the effects of neutrophils from cardiac surgery patients with CPB time <80 min (group I; n = 8) and >80 min (group II; n = 8) on the integrity of cultured porcine MVEC. Ex vivo, neutrophils of group II but not of group I significantly degraded the zonula adherens molecule β-catenin whereas VE-cadherin and occludin were not modified. The transendothelial electric resistance as a measure for the integrity of the endothelial monolayers was reduced over time in both groups. In conclusion, prolonged CPB time entails neutrophil-mediated decrease in MVEC β-catenin expression, and thus may be an important trigger for BBB disruption.