Recent studies have demonstrated that the brain is equipped with a lymphatic drainage system that is actively involved in parenchymal waste clearance, brain homeostasis and immune regulation. However, the exact anatomic drainage routes of brain lymph fluid (BLF) remain elusive, hampering the physiological study and clinical application of this system. In this study, we systematically dissected the anatomy of the BLF pathways in a rat model. Moreover, we developed a protocol to collect BLF from the afferent lymphatic vessels of deep cervical lymph nodes (dcLNs) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the fourth ventricle. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that BLF contains more metabolites than CSF, suggesting that BLF might be a more sensitive indicator of brain dynamics under physiological and pathological conditions. Finally, we identified several metabolites as potential diagnostic biomarkers for glioma, Parkinson's disease and CNS infectious diseases. Together, these data may provide insight into the physiology of the lymphatic system in the brain and into the clinical diagnosis of CNS disorders.

中文翻译：

---

健康和疾病中大脑淋巴系统的解剖结构和代谢组。

最近的研究表明，大脑配备了淋巴引流系统，该系统积极参与实质废物清除、大脑稳态和免疫调节。然而，脑淋巴液 (BLF) 的确切解剖引流途径仍然难以捉摸，阻碍了该系统的生理学研究和临床应用。在这项研究中，我们系统地剖析了大鼠模型中 BLF 通路的解剖结构。此外，我们制定了一个协议，从第四脑室的深颈淋巴结 (dcLNs) 和脑脊液 (CSF) 的传入淋巴管收集 BLF。核磁共振波谱显示 BLF 含有比 CSF 更多的代谢物，表明 BLF 可能是生理和病理条件下更敏感的脑动力学指标。最后，我们确定了几种代谢物作为神经胶质瘤、帕金森病和中枢神经系统传染病的潜在诊断生物标志物。总之，这些数据可能有助于深入了解大脑中淋巴系统的生理学和 CNS 疾病的临床诊断。