J Korean Neurol Assoc.  1997 Feb;15(1):176-185.

Effect of dexamethasone on the inflammation and TNF alpha in experimental rabbit pneumococcal meningitis

• Choi YB
• Rha JH
• Kim YI
• Lee KS
• Kim BS

Abstract

It is generally believed that tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF a) plays an crucial role in the pathogenesis of bacterial meningitis through various mechanisms such as endothelial damage, induction of adhesion molecule on the endothelial cell, recruitment of leukocytes in the cerebrospinal fluid(CSF). We performed this study to analyze the relationship of TNF alpha level with the severity of inflammation in the CSF. In a rabbit meningitis model, we attempted to evaluate whether antibiotics induced bacteriolysis can induce the elevation of the TNF alpha level and pleocytosis in CSF, and whether dexamethasone can suppress this elevation of TNF alpha. We also tried to assess the effective administation timing of dexamethasone. Meningitis was induced by intracistemal inoculation of Streptococcus pneumoniae. We designed four groups : Group 1. Untreated conrol (N=5); Group 2. Lone ceftriaxone at 6 hours after inoculation (N=5) ; Group 3. Dexamethasone at 30 minutes before ceftriaxone treatment (N=5); Group 4. Dexamethasone at 30 min. after ceftriaxone treatment (N=5). CSF TNF alpha level and cell count was assessed with regular time interval. The results were as follows: First, the CSF bacterial counts (measured by colony forming units) of group 1 was significantly higher than the other groups after ceftriaxone treatment (P<0. 05). Second, the CSF WBC counts of group 3 and 4 were significantly lower than those of group 1 and 2 at 6 and 14 hours after ceftriaxone treatment (P<0.05). Third, the CSF TNF alpha titers of group 1 and 3 were significantly lower than those of group 2 and 4 at 2 hours after ceftriaxone treatment (P<0.05). Fourth, after 14 hours, the CSF TNF alpha titers of group 1 kept on rising and became significantly higher than those of other groups (P

MeSH Terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Bacterial Load
Bacteriolysis
Ceftriaxone
Cell Count
Dexamethasone*
Endothelial Cells
Inflammation*
Leukocytes
Leukocytosis
Meningitis
Meningitis, Bacterial
Meningitis, Pneumococcal*
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
Anti-Bacterial Agents
Ceftriaxone
Dexamethasone
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha