Central nervous system TNF α-mRNA expression during rabbit experimental pneumococcal meningitis

In pneumococcal meningitis inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF α) are produced in large quantities and play a major role in pathogenesis. It is not known exactly which cells produce these mediators during infection. We investigated the localisation of TNF α-mRNA in the ce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience letters 1997-11, Vol.237 (2), p.105-108
Main Authors: Bitsch, A, Trostdorf, F, Brück, W, Schmidt, H, Fischer, F.R, Nau, R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bacterial diseases
Biological and medical sciences
Experimental bacterial diseases and models
Infectious diseases
Medical sciences
Meningitis
Monocytes
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Tumor necrosis factor alpha
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Summary:In pneumococcal meningitis inflammatory mediators such as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF α) are produced in large quantities and play a major role in pathogenesis. It is not known exactly which cells produce these mediators during infection. We investigated the localisation of TNF α-mRNA in the central nervous system (CNS) by in situ hybridisation during experimental Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis. TNF-positive cells were detected only in inflammatory infiltrates within the meninges. Cells within the brain parenchyma and the choroid plexus were completely negative. After monocyte depletion, no TNF α-mRNA positive cells were detected in the CNS. These findings suggest that TNF α in pneumococcal meningitis is produced in the CNS mainly by blood-derived, infiltrating monocytes.
ISSN:0304-3940
1872-7972
DOI:10.1016/S0304-3940(97)00830-6