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Olfactory Nerve—A Novel Invasion Route of Neisseria meningitidis to Reach the Meninges

Neisseria meningitidis is a human-specific pathogen with capacity to cause septic shock and meningitis. It has been hypothesized that invasion of the central nervous system (CNS) is a complication of a bacteremic condition. In this study, we aimed to characterize the invasion route of N. meningitidi...

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Autores principales: Sjölinder, Hong, Jonsson, Ann-Beth
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2987801/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21124975
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014034
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author Sjölinder, Hong
Jonsson, Ann-Beth
author_facet Sjölinder, Hong
Jonsson, Ann-Beth
author_sort Sjölinder, Hong
collection PubMed
description Neisseria meningitidis is a human-specific pathogen with capacity to cause septic shock and meningitis. It has been hypothesized that invasion of the central nervous system (CNS) is a complication of a bacteremic condition. In this study, we aimed to characterize the invasion route of N. meningitidis to the CNS. Using an intranasally challenged mouse disease model, we found that twenty percent of the mice developed lethal meningitis even though no bacteria could be detected in blood. Upon bacterial infection, epithelial lesions and redistribution of intracellular junction protein N-cadherin were observed at the nasal epithelial mucosa, especially at the olfactory epithelium, which is functionally and anatomically connected to the CNS. Bacteria were detected in the submucosa of the olfactory epithelium, along olfactory nerves in the cribriform plate, at the olfactory bulb and subsequently at the meninges and subarachnoid space. Furthermore, our data suggest that a threshold level of bacteremia is required for the development of meningococcal sepsis. Taken together, N. meningitidis is able to pass directly from nasopharynx to meninges through the olfactory nerve system. This study enhances our understanding how N. meningitidis invades the meninges. The nasal olfactory nerve system may be a novel target for disease prevention that can improve outcome and survival.
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spelling pubmed-29878012010-12-01 Olfactory Nerve—A Novel Invasion Route of Neisseria meningitidis to Reach the Meninges Sjölinder, Hong Jonsson, Ann-Beth PLoS One Research Article Neisseria meningitidis is a human-specific pathogen with capacity to cause septic shock and meningitis. It has been hypothesized that invasion of the central nervous system (CNS) is a complication of a bacteremic condition. In this study, we aimed to characterize the invasion route of N. meningitidis to the CNS. Using an intranasally challenged mouse disease model, we found that twenty percent of the mice developed lethal meningitis even though no bacteria could be detected in blood. Upon bacterial infection, epithelial lesions and redistribution of intracellular junction protein N-cadherin were observed at the nasal epithelial mucosa, especially at the olfactory epithelium, which is functionally and anatomically connected to the CNS. Bacteria were detected in the submucosa of the olfactory epithelium, along olfactory nerves in the cribriform plate, at the olfactory bulb and subsequently at the meninges and subarachnoid space. Furthermore, our data suggest that a threshold level of bacteremia is required for the development of meningococcal sepsis. Taken together, N. meningitidis is able to pass directly from nasopharynx to meninges through the olfactory nerve system. This study enhances our understanding how N. meningitidis invades the meninges. The nasal olfactory nerve system may be a novel target for disease prevention that can improve outcome and survival. Public Library of Science 2010-11-18 /pmc/articles/PMC2987801/ /pubmed/21124975 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014034 Text en Sjölinder, Jonsson. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Sjölinder, Hong
Jonsson, Ann-Beth
Olfactory Nerve—A Novel Invasion Route of Neisseria meningitidis to Reach the Meninges
title Olfactory Nerve—A Novel Invasion Route of Neisseria meningitidis to Reach the Meninges
title_full Olfactory Nerve—A Novel Invasion Route of Neisseria meningitidis to Reach the Meninges
title_fullStr Olfactory Nerve—A Novel Invasion Route of Neisseria meningitidis to Reach the Meninges
title_full_unstemmed Olfactory Nerve—A Novel Invasion Route of Neisseria meningitidis to Reach the Meninges
title_short Olfactory Nerve—A Novel Invasion Route of Neisseria meningitidis to Reach the Meninges
title_sort olfactory nerve—a novel invasion route of neisseria meningitidis to reach the meninges
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2987801/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21124975
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0014034
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