Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0085437 (bacterial meningitis)
 4,038 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Mx proteins are a group of interferon-induced GTPases whose expression has been demonstrated in a number of human viral infections and in some idiopathic inflammatory diseases. In this study, the expression of Mx protein was evaluated in known viral, nonviral, and idiopathic encephalitides in the dog via immunohistochemistry using an antibody against human MxA. All 12 cases of confirmed viral encephalitis, including 7 cases of canine distemper, 4 cases of canine herpesvirus, and 1 case of rabies, were Mx positive. In canine distemper cases, staining was particularly strong and a variety of cell types were positive, including astrocytes, macrophages/microglia, and neurons. Immunoreactivity for Mx protein was evident in a few cases of nonviral infectious encephalitis, including neosporosis (1/1), Chagas disease (2/3), aspergillosis (1/2), and encephalitozoonosis (1/1). Consistent staining was observed in most cases of idiopathic encephalitis, including granulomatous meningoencephalomyelitis (7/7), necrotizing meningoencephalitis of pug dogs (6/7), and necrotizing encephalitis of the Yorkshire Terrier (3/3) and Maltese (1/1) breeds. Mx staining was negative in 5 normal dog brains; 3 cases of cryptococcosis; and single cases of blastomycosis, protothecosis, and bacterial meningitis.
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PMID:Immunohistochemical evaluation of mx protein expression in canine encephalitides. 1709 55

Encephalitis is an inflammatory process involving the parenchyma of the brain. It typically presents as a clinical syndrome characterised by fever, headache and altered conscious level, often with focal neurological deficits and fits. The clinical presentation overlaps with other diseases of the central nervous system including viral and bacterial meningitis, and brain abscess. The causes of encephalitis are legion, and include principally viral but also bacterial, parasitic and fungal pathogens. Noninfectious aetiologies, especially autoimmune conditions such as potassium channel voltage gated antibodies and anti-NDMA receptor antibodies, are increasingly recognised. Diagnosis comes from clinical examination, neuroimaging and laboratory testing. With such a wide range of potential pathogens a syndromic approach to diagnosis is preferred, testing for a range of organisms. Traditional techniques such as cell culture and direct virus antigen detection have little or no role nowadays. Laboratory diagnosis of viral encephalitis is ideally based on examination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for cells, protein and glucose, followed by nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for a range of viral targets. Samples other than CSF sometimes give a definitive or probable aetiological diagnosis; examples include skin biopsy in rabies, and serum NAAT and antibody tests for some arboviruses and enteroviruses. Newer approaches to amplification and to multitarget detection are becoming increasingly important. Detection of intrathecal antibody production against specific viruses retains a place in diagnosis where NAAT is negative. Some of the laboratory techniques available will be discussed in this article.
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PMID:Laboratory techniques for human viral encephalitis diagnosis. 2148 29

Infections that cause significant nervous system morbidity globally include viral (for example, HIV, rabies, Japanese encephalitis virus, herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, dengue virus and chikungunya virus), bacterial (for example, tuberculosis, syphilis, bacterial meningitis and sepsis), fungal (for example, cryptococcal meningitis) and parasitic (for example, malaria, neurocysticercosis, neuroschistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminths) infections. The neurological, cognitive, behavioural or mental health problems caused by the infections probably affect millions of children and adults in low- and middle-income countries. However, precise estimates of morbidity are lacking for most infections, and there is limited information on the pathogenesis of nervous system injury in these infections. Key research priorities for infection-related nervous system morbidity include accurate estimates of disease burden; point-of-care assays for infection diagnosis; improved tools for the assessment of neurological, cognitive and mental health impairment; vaccines and other interventions for preventing infections; improved understanding of the pathogenesis of nervous system disease in these infections; more effective methods to treat and prevent nervous system sequelae; operations research to implement known effective interventions; and improved methods of rehabilitation. Research in these areas, accompanied by efforts to implement promising technologies and therapies, could substantially decrease the morbidity and mortality of infections affecting the nervous system in low- and middle-income countries.
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PMID:Global research priorities for infections that affect the nervous system. 2658 Mar 25

Meningitis and encephalitis are medical emergencies. Patients need prompt evaluation and immediate empiric therapy to reduce the likelihood of fatal outcomes and chronic neurological sequelae. Conjugate bacterial vaccines have significantly reduced the incidence of bacterial meningitis, especially in children. As the results of changes in patterns of bacterial drug sensitivity, ceftriaxone is now part of the recommended empiric treatment for bacterial meningitis and should be administered as early as possible. Neuroimaging delays the treatment of meningitis and is not needed in most cases. Adjunctive corticosteroid therapy is of benefit for many patients with meningitis and should be initiated in most adults before antibiotic therapy. Molecular testing can assist the specific diagnosis of encephalitis and should be based on the exposure history and geographic risk factors relevant to the patient, but non-infectious causes of encephalitis are also common. Empiric therapy for encephalitis should be directed at the most frequently identified infectious pathogen, herpes simplex virus type 1 (ie, intravenous aciclovir). Vaccines can protect against the major pathogens of childhood infections (measles, mumps, rubella, polio, varicella viruses), influenza viruses, and exotic pathogens that cause meningitis and encephalitis (rabies, Japanese encephalitis, dengue, yellow fever, tick-borne encephalitis viruses, Mycobacterium tuberculosis).
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PMID:Community-acquired acute meningitis and encephalitis: a narrative review. 3030