title: Elevation of plasminogen activators in cerebrospinal fluid of mice with eosinophilic meningitis caused by Angiostrongylus cantonensis.
abstract: A hallmark of parasitic meningitis is the infiltration of eosinophils into the subarachnoid space. Infection with Angiostrongylus cantonensis in mice induced proteinase activity in parallel with the pathological changes of eosinophilic meningitis. Zymogram analysis demonstrated that 70 and 55 kDa proteinases from cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were active against the casein/plasminogen substrate. The proteinase activities were clearly inhibited by phenylmethanesulphonyl fluoride but not by ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, 1,10-phenanthroline or leupeptin. Western blotting confirmed these enzymes to be tissue-type plasminogen activator and urokinase-type plasminogen activator, respectively. High activities of tissue-type plasminogen activator and urokinase-type plasminogen activator were detected in the CSF of mice with eosinophilic meningitis, and correlated positively with CSF eosinophil numbers and total protein, respectively. Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that tissue-type plasminogen activator and urokinase-type plasminogen activator localised in the endothelial cells of blood vessels, in blood clots and in infiltrated leukocytes. These results suggest that tissue-type plasminogen activator and urokinase-type plasminogen activator may be play a role in the pathogenesis of eosinophilic meningitis of angiostrongyliasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, National Chung-Hsing University, Taichung 402, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Roger F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Wu-Chun
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Tu
authors.forename: Hsiu-Hsiung
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ke-Min
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hui-Lin
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.forename: Shih-Chan
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D017185:Angiostrongylus cantonensis; D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000379:methods; D020809:Central Nervous System Helminthiasis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000469:parasitology; D004802:Eosinophilia; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D007814:Larva; D008297:Male; D008581:Meningitis / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000235:genetics; D010960:Plasminogen Activators / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000235:genetics; D011897:Random Allocation; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017206:Strongylida Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000473:pathology; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000235:genetics; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1; D010960:Plasminogen Activators; D010959:Tissue Plasminogen Activator; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator