Despite advances in antimicrobial
therapy and advanced
critical care neonatal
bacterial meningitis has a mortality rate of over 10% and induces neurological sequelae in 20-50% of cases. Escherichia coli K1 (E. coli K1) is the most common gram-negative organism causing neonatal
meningitis and is the second most common cause behind group B streptococcus. We previously reported that an E. coli K1 experimental
meningitis infection in neonatal rats resulted in habituation and aversive memory impairment and a significant increase in
cytokine levels in adulthood. In this present study, we investigated the oxidative stress profile including
malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, carbonyl
protein formation,
myeloperoxidase activity (MPO) activity,
superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and
catalase (CAT) activity 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 and 96h after E. coli K1 experimental
meningitis infection. In addition, sulfhydryl groups,
nitrite and
nitrate levels and activity of the mitochondrial respiratory chain
enzymes were also measured in the frontal cortex and hippocampus of neonatal rats. The results from this study demonstrated a significant increase in MDA,
protein carbonyls and MPO activity and a simultaneous decrease in SOD activity in the hippocampus of the neonatal
meningitis survivors but the same was not observed in frontal cortex. In addition, we also observed a significant increase in complex IV activity in the hippocampus and frontal cortex of
meningitis survivor rats. Thus, the results from this study reaffirmed the possible role of oxidative stress,
nitric oxide and its related compounds in the complex pathophysiology of E. coli K1-induced
bacterial meningitis.