A new murine model to study the pathogenesis of tuberculous meningitis

GTJ Van Well, CW Wieland, S Florquin… - The Journal of …, 2007 - academic.oup.com
GTJ Van Well, CW Wieland, S Florquin, JJ Roord, T Van Der Poll, AM Van Furth
The Journal of infectious diseases, 2007academic.oup.com
Tuberculous meningitis (TM) is a severe complication of tuberculosis that mainly occurs
during childhood. No murine models are available to study this disease. The purpose of the
present study was to develop a murine model to investigate the pathogenesis of TM. Mice
were intracerebrally injected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Bacilli could be cultured from
brain homogenates, and, on histopathological examination, all mice were found to have
meningeal cellular infiltration. We found elevated levels of chemoattractants for …
Abstract
Tuberculous meningitis (TM) is a severe complication of tuberculosis that mainly occurs during childhood. No murine models are available to study this disease. The purpose of the present study was to develop a murine model to investigate the pathogenesis of TM. Mice were intracerebrally injected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Bacilli could be cultured from brain homogenates, and, on histopathological examination, all mice were found to have meningeal cellular infiltration. We found elevated levels of chemoattractants for mononuclear phagocytes and neutrophilic granulocytes. This is the first murine model for TMthat can be used for research on the host response to TM, in particular the innate immune response.
Oxford University Press