title: Severe cochlear inflammation and vestibular syndrome in an experimental model of Streptococcus suis infection in mice.
abstract: Hearing impairment is a common and frequently permanent sequel of Streptococcus suis meningitis in humans. Nevertheless, mechanisms underlying the development of cochlear damage have not been addressed so far. In the present work, we characterized a mouse model of suppurative labyrinthitis and meningitis induced by a systemic infection with S. suis and studied the impact of the injected bacterial dosage on the progression of such inflammatory events. We observed that high infection doses of bacteria lead to sustained bacteremia, with an increase in the permeability of the blood-labyrinth and blood-brain barriers, causing suppurative labyrinthitis and meningitis, respectively. However, in mice infected with a low dose of S. suis, bacteria disappeared quickly from blood, hence, cochlear inflammation and meningitis were not consistent features. This model of S. suis infection seems ideal to evaluate novel drugs that may help alleviate the negative consequences of such important sequelae of S. suis-induced meningitis and labyrinthitis.
authors.affiliation: Groupe de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses du Porc and Centre de Recherche en Infectiologie Porcine, Faculté de Médecine Vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, Canada.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Domínguez-Punaro
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Koedel
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hoegen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Demel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gottschalk
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D001769:Blood / Q000382:microbiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007762:Labyrinthitis / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*; D017011:Streptococcus suis / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D013997:Time Factors; D015837:Vestibular Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology*