The presence of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is critical for cholesterol metabolism in the
brain, preventing uptake of lipoprotein-bound cholesterol from the circulation. The metabolic
consequences of a leaking BBB for cholesterol metabolism have not been studied
previously. Here we used a pericyte-deficient mouse model, Pdgfb ret/ret, shown to have
increased permeability of the BBB to a range of low-molecular mass and high-molecular
mass tracers. There was a significant accumulation of plant sterols in the brains of the Pdgfb …