Journal
NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 297, Issue -, Pages 89-94Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2015.03.056
Keywords
Streptococcus pneumoniae; neuroinfection; neuroinflammation; hippocampus; stem cell niche
Categories
Funding
- Gottfried und Julia Bangerter-Rhyner-Stiftung
- Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) [138094]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background: High mortality and morbidity rates are observed in patients with bacterial meningitis (BM) and urge for new adjuvant treatments in addition to standard antibiotic therapies. In BM the hippocampal dentate gyrus is injured by apoptosis while in cortical areas ischemic necrosis occurs. Experimental therapies aimed at reducing the inflammatory response and brain damage have successfully been evaluated in animal models of BM. Fluoxetine (FLX) is an anti-depressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and was previously shown to be neuroprotective in vitro and in vivo. We therefore assessed the neuroprotective effect of FLX in experimental pneumococcal meningitis. Methods: Infant rats were infected intracisternally with live Streptococcus pneumoniae. Intraperitoneal treatment with FLX (10 mg kg(-1) d(-1)) or an equal volume of NaCl was initiated 15 min later. 18, 27, and 42 h after infection, the animals were clinically (weight, clinical score, mortality) evaluated and subject to a cisternal puncture and inflammatory parameters (i.e., cyto-/chemokines, myeloperoxidase activity, matrix metalloproteinase concentrations) were measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. At 42 h after infection, animals were sacrificed and the brains collected for histomorphometrical analysis of brain damage. Results: A significant lower number of animals treated with FLX showed relevant hippocampal apoptosis when compared to littermates (9/19 animals vs 18/23, P = 0.038). A trend for less damage in cortical areas was observed in FLX-treated animals compared to controls (13/19 vs 13/23, P = ns). Clinical and inflammatory parameters were not affected by FLX treatment. Conclusion: A significant neuroprotective effect of FLX on the hippocampus was observed in acute pneumococcal meningitis in infant rats. (C) 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available