Year: 2010
Type: article
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Bacteremia and systemic complications both play important roles in brain pathophysiological alterations and the outcome of pneumococcal meningitis. Their individual contributions to the development of brain damage, however, still remain to be defined. METHODS: Using an adult rat pneumococcal meningitis model, the impact of bacteremia accompanying meningitis on the development of hippocampal injury was studied. The study comprised of the three groups: I. Meningitis (n = 11), II. meningitis with attenuated bacteremia resulting from iv injection of serotype-specific pneumococcal antibodies (n = 14), and III. uninfected controls (n = 6). RESULTS: Pneumococcal meningitis resulted in a significantly higher apoptosis score 0.22 (0.18-0.35) compared to uninfected controls (0.02 (0.00-0.02), Mann Whitney test, P = 0.0003). Also, meningitis with an attenuation of bacteremia by antibody treatment resulted in significantly reduced apoptosis (0.08 (0.02-0.20), P = 0.01) as compared to meningitis. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that bacteremia accompanying meningitis plays an important role in the development of hippocampal injury in pneumococcal meningitis.
Source: BMC Infectious Diseases
Language: English
Subfield: Microbiology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,090
Funders: National Science Foundation, University of Bern, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Lundbeckfonden, A.P. Møller og Hustru Chastine Mc-Kinney Møllers Fond til almene Formaal, H. Lundbeck A/S
OpenAlex ID: W2065913295