A recent article in Science Daily reports that researchers at the Copenhagen and Lund Universities, using animal models, killed bacterial meningitis without the use of antibiotics.
Estimates from the WHO report almost three million cases of meningitis each year overriding vaccines and other efforts to control the virus.
About Meningitis
Meningitis is a bacterial infection of the brain caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. The disease has neurological consequences that occur in about half the surviving patients including headache, seizures, cognitive impairment, fever, amputations, and possible death.
Meningitis must be treated within twenty-four hours after discovery.
Meningitis Causes Brain Swelling
Dr. Chiara Pavan is the lead author of the study. Dr. Pavan explained that the researchers found that neutrophils (immune cells) create a type of net in the meninges that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord.
The meninges form a cavity that allows the cerebrospinal fluid (CFS) to pass through. CSF is needed to clean waste products created by brain cells. However, swelling occurs if a bacterial or viral infection invades the fluid and blocks the disposal of waste products.
The team of researchers discovered that by dissolving the protective cavity (but not the immune cells) the meningitis bacteria will still be destroyed without brain swelling.
Conditions That Cause Brain Swelling
The glymphatic system (the fluid transporting system) is vital in the avoidance of accumulating protein plaques as found in Alzheimer’s or other acute disorders such as stroke.
Researchers at two universities, Iben Lundgaard and Copenhagen, are the first to identify that brain swelling (edema) occurs from a blockage in the glymphatic system. Blood vessels are compressed causing a loss of brain tissue affecting the areas of the brain that control breathing.
When immune cells invade the brain, they destroy bacteria. Yet this process produces inflammation that creates the aforementioned nets and swelling.
The study suggests a new treatment for meningitis in humans by administering an enzyme that degrades neutrophil nets. The researchers applied drugs called DNase that dissolved the nets.
Removing nets and allowing the immune cells to remain, prevented the often-fatal accumulation of fluid in rats that were infected with the bacteria. That allows the cerebrospinal fluid to move freely and not impact the brain.
The treatment was effective and reduced brain swelling. It also removed waste products from the brain.
On the contrary, antibiotic treatment had no effect on swelling in the brain or the clearance of waste.
Looking Forward
The research team is planning an international study of the drug DNase to treat bacterial meningitis. DNase is the drug the team used to treat the rats by cutting up the DNA and dissolving the nets.
There is an urgent need to find alternatives to certain drugs that are no longer effective against antibiotics. DNase is not only promising as an alternative to certain antibiotics, but it has previously received approval for human use in various neurological diseases.
