title: Toxicity in neuronal cells caused by cerebrospinal fluid from pneumococcal and gram-negative meningitis.
abstract: To identify neurotoxic factors in meningitis, a neuronal cell line (HN33.1) was exposed to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) obtained from rabbits with pneumococcal meningitis or Escherichia coli meningitis or 2 h and 6 h after meningitis was induced by proinflammatory bacterial products (pneumococcal cell walls, endotoxin). CSF from all types of meningitis induced similar degrees of cytotoxicity. When a soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor that completely blocked TNF-mediated toxicity at 10(-7) M was used, all toxicity in meningitis caused by E. coli, endotoxin, or pneumococcal cell wall administration (2 h afterwards) was mediated by TNF. In contrast, CSF from animals with meningitis caused by live pneumococci or pneumococcal cell wall injection (6 h afterwards) retained cytotoxicity in the presence of the TNF receptor. Thus, in established pneumococcal meningitis, but not in the other forms of meningitis, TNF is not the only component toxic in this neuronal cell line.
authors.affiliation: Microbial Pathogenesis Unit, San Francisco General Hospital, CA.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Täuber
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sachdeva
authors.forename: S L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Kennedy
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Loetscher
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lesslauer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016923:Cell Death; D002460:Cell Line; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000502:physiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008586:Meningitis, Pneumococcal / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D011817:Rabbits; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase