J. Gerber et al., A mouse model of Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis mimicking several features of human disease, ACT NEUROP, 101(5), 2001, pp. 499-508
The course of bacterial titers, meningeal inflammation, behavioral abnormal
ities, and neuronal damage was studied in a mouse model of Streptococcus pn
eumoniae meningitis. At 24 h after injection of 10(4) colony-forming units
(CFU) S. pneumoniae into the right forebrain, infected mice became severely
lethargic. Bacterial titers in cerebrospinal fluid and cerebellum rose to
10(9) CFU/ml, with strong granulocyte invasion into the meninges and neuron
al necroses in the neocortex, striatum and hippocampal formation. Meningeal
inflammation and neuronal damage in intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1
- and macrophage colony-stimulating factor-deficient mice was similar to th
at in wild-type litrermates. Untreated, the infection was fatal. Wild-type
mice treated earlier than 24 h after infection with ceftriaxone (2 mg every
12 h for 3 days) survived without apparent behavioral abnormalities. Delay
of treatment beyond 30 h led to the death of more than 50% of the infected
mice. This mouse model is suitable fur therapeutic studies and for the inv
estigation of inflammation in knockout mice. The neuronal damage resembles
morphological abnormalities observed in humans.