Sulforaphane may help protect and heal the brain after injury

The blood brain barrier is a protective barrier of tightly woven cells and blood vessels at the base of the spine that allows factors the brain requires to enter yet blocks the absorption of many toxins and chemicals.

After an accident that causes a brain injury the blood brain barrier (BBB) looses its integrity and therefore the ability to block toxins from entering the brain. The BBB becomes more permeable and this contributes to swelling of the brain (edema). When rats that were either injured in the brain or were uninjured, were given Sulforaphane, factors that repair and maintain the BBB increased in activity that will restore function of the barrier. The study is published in the September 19th, 2007 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.