title: Early antibiotic administration prevents cognitive impairment induced by meningitis in rats.
abstract: Neurological deficit and alterations in the hippocampus still frequently occur following bacterial meningitis in children, despite the antibiotic treatment. We investigated the long-term outcomes using early versus late antibiotic therapy in experimental pneumococcal meningitis. To this aim, male Wistar rats underwent a basilar cistern tap receiving either sterile saline as a placebo or an equivalent volume of a Streptococcus pneumoniae suspension. Antibiotics were started 8 or 16 h after infection and the animals were followed for 10 days to the determination of long-term cognitive outcomes. The animals were submitted to the habituation of an open-field as an index of long-term cognitive function. Early antibiotic administration (8 h after inoculation) when compared to late antibiotic administration (16 h after inoculation) prevented cognitive impairment induced by pneumococcal meningitis in Wistar rats. The findings from this study suggest that early antibiotic administration is an effective strategy to prevent long-term cognitive impairment in a meningitis animal model.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Fisiopatologia Experimental and Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia Translacional em Medicina, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Unidade Acadêmica de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, 88806-000 Criciúma, SC, Brazil. tba@unesc.net
authors.forename: Tatiana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Barichello
authors.forename: Geruza Z
authors.initials: GZ
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Ana L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.forename: Geovana D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Savi
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feier
authors.forename: Clarissa M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Comim
authors.forename: João
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quevedo
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Dal-Pizzol
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006185:Habituation, Psychophysiologic / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D008586:Meningitis, Pneumococcal / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents