Pathophysiological correlates in bacterial meningitis.
This review summarises briefly several areas of importance in the pathogenesis of bacterial meningitis. These subjects include: (1) factors that predispose to the development of disease and relevant host defense mechanisms; (2) microbial virulence factors; (3) the route(s) of entry for bacteria into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF); (4) the role of pathological changes in the central nervous system; (5) particulate clearance mechanisms operative in the CSF system; and (6) the physiological alteration in normal intracranial homeostatic processes.
D000818:Animals; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008581:Meningitis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010539:Permeability; D014774:Virulence