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)

To evaluate the potential role of cachectin/TNF-alpha in the pathogenesis of bacterial and viral meningitis, concentrations and kinetics of TNF-alpha were determined in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). After intracerebral, but not systemic, infection with Listeria monocytogenes in mice, TNF-alpha was detected as early as 3 h after infection reaching maximum titers after 24 h. However, TNF-alpha was not found in serum during the course of Listeria infection. In contrast to bacterial meningitis, no TNF-alpha was detected at any time in CSF of mice suffering from severe lymphocytic choriomeningitis induced by intracerebral infection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. This difference is striking since both model infections led to a massive infiltration of polymorphonuclear and mononuclear leukocytes into the meninges and CSF. The results found for the two model infections were paralleled by findings in humans; CSF from three out of three patients with bacterial meningitis examined during the first day of hospitalization showed significant levels of TNF-alpha; none of the CSF obtained later than 3 d after hospitalization was positive. In addition, similarly to what was found in mice with viral meningitis, zero out of seven patients with viral meningitis had detectable TNF-alpha in CSF.
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PMID:Tumor necrosis factor alpha in cerebrospinal fluid during bacterial, but not viral, meningitis. Evaluation in murine model infections and in patients. 336 98

An easy, reproducible and semi-quantitative, non-radioactive method for the analysis of mRNA expression for various cytokines, (i.e., Interleukin (IL)-1 beta, IL-4, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, lymphotoxin (LT), transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, interferon (IFN)-gamma and endothelin-1 (ET-1)) in cells from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) has been established. By means of polymerase chain reaction primers that cover a splice junction, amplification of contaminating DNA was omitted. Densitometric scanning of ethidium bromide-stained agarose gels proved to be very sensitive for semiquantitative analysis of PCR products. Serial tenfold dilutions of cDNA revealed a log-linear regression from 10(6) to 10(2) cells under optimal cycle conditions. The intra- and inter-assay variability of the method was below 10%. With this assay, the cytokine expression pattern of as few as 10(4) mononuclear cells from blood or CSF was determined. This method made it possible to detect differences in the cytokine gene expression pattern of mononuclear cells from patients with different neurological diseases. CSF cells from 43 patients with various neurological diseases were analyzed. TNF-alpha, LT, and IL-1 mRNA were prominent in the CSF cells of most patients with bacterial meningitis. TNF-alpha, LT, IFN-gamma and IL-6 mRNAs were detected in patients with active multiple sclerosis, whereas TNF-alpha, IL-6, and endothelin-1 mRNA expression was found frequently in patients with HIV encephalitis. Pro-inflammatory cytokines were rarely detected in CSF cells from patients with non-inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system. In blood mononuclear cells from patients with multiple sclerosis, TNF-alpha mRNA expression was associated with disease activity. The sensitivity, specificity, velocity and reliability of this assay considerably facilitates the analysis of cytokine production in mononuclear cells even in conditions where only a limited number of cells is available for analysis.
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PMID:Semi-quantitative analysis of cytokine gene expression in blood and cerebrospinal fluid cells by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. 778

We measured cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn SOD) using an enzyme immunoassay method in 19 patients with bacterial meningitis (BM), 33 with aseptic meningitis (AM) and 13 with encephalitis (EN), and examined the significance of their elevations, especially in BM. 1) In BM, the Mn SOD levels were obviously high, ranging from 10.4 to 1179.2 ng/ml. The mean level of Mn SOD was 234.6 +/- 306.7 (SD) ng/ml and 18 patients showed abnormal levels of Mn SOD (more than 13.1 ng/ml). On the other hand, in the remaining 2 diseases, the elevation of SOD levels was not remarkable: the mean levels of Mn SOD in AM and EN were 20.6 +/- 11.6 ng/ml and 41.9 +/- 23.6 ng/ml, respectively. 2) In AM and EN, Mn SOD levels well correlated with NSE or S-100b levels which are the markers of nervous tissue damages. But there was no correlation between the Mn SOD levels in BM and these markers. 3) In BM, there was a positive relationship between Mn SOD and total protein levels, but the disease days showing peak levels were different between them. In addition, Mn SOD levels showed no correlation with cell counts in CSF. 4) In BM, CSF levels of TNF-alpha and IL-1 alpha were remarkably high, whereas in AM and EN, the increases of these cytokines were not marked. And these cytokines in BM showed the peak values in the disease day before or when Mn SOD reached the peak levels.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:[The significance of elevated Mn SOD level in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with bacterial meningitis--its relation to cytokine]. 802 25

Cytokines are involved in the host response to bacterial infections. In bacterial meningitis, intrathecal synthesis of TNF-alpha and IL-1 is likely to contribute to CNS injury by recruitment and activation of inflammatory cells with subsequent release of toxic factors, such as reactive oxygen intermediates and excitatory amino acids (glutamate), leading to neuronal cell death with neurologic sequelae. In rats with experimental meningitis, pretreatment with TGF-beta inhibits cerebrovascular changes and brain edema formation in the early, TNF-alpha-independent phase. Provided its local production in bacterial infection, TGF-beta may comprise a host factor interfering with immune pathologic events altering the integrity of the endothelial barrier.
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PMID:Immune-mediated injury in bacterial meningitis. 845 12

Neopterin is synthesized mainly by monocytes/macrophages and is considered to be a marker for activation of the cellular immune system. In patients with bacterial or aseptic meningitis, elevated neopterin levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been demonstrated. We studied the time courses of CSF and serum neopterin in children with meningitis. The CSF neopterin levels on admission were significantly higher in patients with bacterial meningitis (82.4 +/- 37.0 nmol/L) than in those with aseptic meningitis (32.3 +/- 22.1 nmol/L) or in those with non-pleocytotic CSF (6.9 +/- 4.4 nmol/L). The CSF neopterin levels in the patients with bacterial meningitis were remarkably increased (234.5 +/- 100.2 nmol/L) one day after admission, but the serum neopterin levels were not increased. There was no correlation between CSF neopterin levels and CSF cell count or CSF protein, nor between serum neopterin levels and serum C-reactive protein or peripheral leukocyte count. But the CSF neopterin levels one day after admission were related to the period of positive serum C-reactive protein. CSF neopterin levels in patients with bacterial meningitis were increased one day after admission. The levels in two patients with high levels of CSF IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha were remarkably increased. All patients with bacterial meningitis had received treatment with antibiotics and dexamethasone. It has been reported that TNF-alpha enhances the effect of IFN-gamma for neopterin release by macrophages in vitro and that dexamethasone has the same effect on IFN-gamma as TNF-alpha. The present study suggests that elevation of CSF neopterin in bacterial meningitis results from monocytes/macrophages costimulated with IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha and dexamethasone used in treatment.
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PMID:[Changes of neopterin in cerebrospinal fluid and serum in children with meningitis]. 857 53

Soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor (sTNF-R) is the natural homeostatic regulator of the action of TNF-alpha. The level of sTNF-R reflects the true biologic activity of TNF-alpha. We investigated whether sTNF-R increases in CSF during patients' acute stage of bacterial and aseptic meningitis by measuring p60 sTNF-R in CSF by a sandwich enzyme immunoassay. The concentrations of sTNF-R were significantly higher in the CSF of children with bacterial meningitis than in the CSF of those with aseptic meningitis or of control subjects. The patients with bacterial meningitis who died or had severe neurologic sequelae had higher sTNF-R levels than those who survived. Our findings suggest that the sTNF-R level in CSF during acute bacterial meningitis is important for predicting neurologic sequelae.
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PMID:Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor in bacterial and aseptic meningitis. 861 97

The antiinflammatory mediators interleukin (IL)-10 and soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors p55 (sTNFR-55) and sTNFR-75 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 37 children with bacterial meningitis were studied. CSF concentrations of IL-10, sTNFR-55, and sTNFR-75 and of the proinflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-8 were markedly elevated and were, with the exception of the sTNFRs, significantly higher in CSF than in serum. CSF concentrations of sTNFR- 55 and sTNFR-75 were only associated positively with IL-10 levels. CSF glucose levels correlated highly with levels of IL-10, sTNFR-55, and sTNFR-75 and weakly with TNF-alpha and IL-6. Cytokine levels in CSF decreased rapidly, while sTNFR levels remained elevated for at least 24 h.
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PMID:Interleukin-10 and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptors in cerebrospinal fluid of children with bacterial meningitis. 864 29

To investigate the role of nitric oxide (NO) in bacterial meningitis, concentrations in serum, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), or both of the precursor (L-arginine) and degradation products of NO (nitrate, nitrite) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha were measured in 35 patients and 30 controls. CSF nitrate levels were significantly elevated, mainly due to increased blood-brain barrier permeability, and are therefore not a good parameter for gauging endogenous NO production in the CSF compartment. CSF NO/nitrite levels were significantly elevated in patients. NO/nitrite levels decreased over time (26%/6 h; P < .001). CSF levels of NO/nitrite correlated with those of TNF-alpha (r = .55; P = .001) and glucose (r = -.43; P = .02). CSF levels of L-arginine were lower in patients than in controls (P < .001). Dexamethasone did not exert a significant effect on NO metabolism. In conclusion, enhanced NO production may contribute to anaerobic glycolysis and neurologic damage in bacterial meningitis.
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PMID:The role of nitric oxide in bacterial meningitis in children. 865 81

In experimental bacterial meningitis in rabbits, the inflammatory process is largely mediated by cytokines such as IL-1 and TNF-alpha. Since thalidomide has been shown to inhibit TNF-alpha production, experiments were carried out to determine whether the drug can modulate the inflammatory response to either lysates of H. influenzae (gram negative) or heat killed S. pneumoniae (gram positive) in rabbits. The introduction of a lysate of H. influenzae into the CSF of rabbits causes a very acute inflammatory response, as indicated by a rapid increase in TNF-alpha levels in the CSF and a concomitantly rapid leukocytosis. In contrast, the introduction of heat killed S. pneumoniae, induces a more indolent inflammatory response which also wanes more slowly. Thalidomide treatment reduces TNF-alpha production in both experimental systems, but has a greater effect on the more indolent gram positive inflammatory response in which peak TNF-alpha levels in the CSF are reduced by > 50%. Also, a sustained inhibition of leukocytosis is observed in the inflammatory response to heat-killed gram positive bacteria. In meningeal inflammation induced by the Gram negative lysate, treatment with thalidomide results in only a 29% inhibition of TNF-alpha release into the CSF. In contrast to the drug effect on TNF-alpha, thalidomide treatment does not significantly affect IL-1 levels in these models of rabbit bacterial meningitis.
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PMID:Effect of thalidomide on the inflammatory response in cerebrospinal fluid in experimental bacterial meningitis. 882 12

We report two cases of pneumococcal meningitis with paranasal sinusitis followed by cerebrovascular disease. Both cases were occupational divers, and had past histories of head trauma and paranasal sinusitis. Despite the combined therapy with antibiotics and dexamethasone, they developed cerebrovascular complications. Case 1 developed cerebral infarction and hemorrhage on day 13, and in case 2 cerebral infarction occurred on day 15. In both cases, serum levels of TNF-alpha and IL-6 were elevated in the early stage of the illness (12 pg/ml and 21.3 pg/ml in case 1, and 50 pg/ml and 7,570 pg/ml in case 2, respectively). In case 2, TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta and IL-6 levels in the cerebrospinal fluid were also elevated on day 4 (25 pg/ml, 320 pg/ml and 6,870 pg/ml, respectively). Thrombocytosis was observed in both cases before the onset of the cerebrovascular complications. These cytokines may play significant roles in thrombocytosis leading to cerebrovascular complications in pneumococcal meningitis. Although the use of steroids as adjunctive therapy for bacterial meningitis has been found to be beneficial, the dosage of dexamethasone administered in our cases may not be enough to suppress the synthesis and release of the cytokines. Therefore, administration of large doses of glucocorticoid should be recommended before the treatment with antibiotics.
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PMID:[Two cases of severe bacterial meningitis with paranasal sinusitis followed by cerebrovascular disease--pathophysiology and treatment of cerebrovascular disease]. 897 33


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