Genetic polymorphisms associated with the inflammatory response in bacterial meningitis

BACKGROUND Bacterial meningitis (BM) is an infectious disease that results in high mortality and morbidity. Despite efficacious antibiotic therapy, neurological sequelae are often observed in patients after disease. Currently, the main challenge in BM treatment is to develop adjuvant therapies that reduce the occurrence of sequelae. In recent papers published by our group, we described the associations between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) AADAT +401C > T, APEX1 Asn148Glu, OGG1 Ser326Cys and PARP1 Val762Ala and BM. In this study, we analyzed the associations between the SNPs TNF -308G > A, TNF -857C > T, IL-8 -251A > T and BM and investigated gene-gene interactions, including the SNPs that we published previously. METHODS The study was conducted with 54 BM patients and 110 healthy volunteers (as the control group). The genotypes were investigated via primer-introduced restriction analysis-polymerase chain reaction (PIRA-PCR) or polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. Allelic and genotypic frequencies were also associated with cytokine and chemokine levels, as measured with the x-MAP method, and cell counts. We analyzed gene-gene interactions among SNPs using the generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) method. RESULTS We did not find significant association between the SNPs TNF -857C > T and IL-8 -251A > T and the disease. However, a higher frequency of the variant allele TNF -308A was observed in the control group, associated with changes in cytokine levels compared to individuals with wild type genotypes, suggesting a possible protective role. In addition, combined inter-gene interaction analysis indicated a significant association between certain genotypes and BM, mainly involving the alleles APEX1 148Glu, IL8 -251 T and AADAT +401 T. These genotypic combinations were shown to affect cyto/chemokine levels and cell counts in CSF samples from BM patients. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, this study revealed a significant association between genetic variability and altered inflammatory responses, involving important pathways that are activated during BM. This knowledge may be useful for a better understanding of BM pathogenesis and the development of new therapeutic approaches

Estudo do papel da proteína multifuncional APE1/Ref-1 sobre a resposta inflamatória na meningite bacteriana

Despite advances in antibiotic therapy, bacterial meningitis (BM) remains with high mortality and morbidity rates in worldwide. One important mechanism associated to sequels during disease is the intense inflammatory response which promotes an oxidative burst and release of reactive oxygen species, consequently leading to cell death. Activation of DNA repair enzymes during oxidative stress has been demonstrated in several neurological disorders. APE1/Ref-1 is a multifunctional protein involved in DNA repair and plays a redox function on transcription factors such as NFkB and AP-1.The aim of this study was assess the role of APE1/Ref-1 on inflammatory response and the possibility of its modulation to reduce the sequels of the disease. Firstly it was performed an assay to measure cytokine in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with BM due to Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseriae meningitides. Further, a cellular model of inflammation was used to observe the effect of the inhibition of the endonuclease and redox activity of APE1/Ref-1 on cytokine levels. Additionally, APE1/Ref-1 expression in cortex and hippocampus of rat with MB after vitamin B6 treatment was evaluated. Altogether, results showed a similar profile of cytokines in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients from both pathogens, although IFNy showed higher expression in patients with BM caused by S. pneumoniae. On the other hand, inhibitors of APE1/Ref-1 reduced cytokine levels, mainly TNF-α. Reduction of oxidative stress markers was also observed after introduction of inhibitors in the LPS-stimulated cell. In the animal model, BM increased the expression of the protein APE1/Ref-1, while vitamin B6 promoted reduction. Thereby, this data rise important factors to be considered in pathogenesis of BM, e.g., IFNy can be used as prognostic factor during corticosteroid therapy, APE1/Ref-1 can be an important target to modulate the level of inflammation and VIII oxidative stress, and vitamin B6 seems modulates several proteins related to cell death. So, this study highlights a new understanding on the role of APE1/Ref-1 on the inflammation and the oxidative stress during inflammation conditionConselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoA meningite bacteriana (MB) é uma doença infecciosa que permanece com altas taxas de mortalidade e morbidade em todo o mundo, principalmente em países subdesenvolvidos, apesar dos avanços na antibioticoterapia. Um dos principais mecanismos associados às sequelas durante a MB é a elevada resposta inflamatória, que promove uma exacerbada quantidade de espécies reativas de oxigênio (ERO) levando às células a apoptose ou necrose. A ativação de enzimas de reparo de DNA durante o estresse oxidativo tem sido demonstrada nas mais diversas desordens. Uma importante enzima envolvida neste processo é a endonuclease apurínica/apirimidinica1/fator redox-1 (APE1/Ref-1). Ela é uma proteína multifuncional envolvida no reparo de DNA e na redução de fatores envolvidos com a resposta inflamatória, tais como o fator nuclear kappa B (NFkB) e proteína ativadora 1 (AP-1). Este estudo teve como objetivo identificar o envolvimento de APE1/Ref-1 na resposta inflamatória visando a possibilidade de sua utilização como alvo terapêutico na redução de sequelas durante a MB. Para isto, inicialmente foi realizado uma análise no perfil de expressão de citocinas em líquor de pacientes com meningite causada por Streptococcus pneumoniae e Neisseriae meningitidis visando selecionar moduladores inflamatórios de interesse para ensaios em cultura de célula subsequentes. Em seguida, utilizando um modelo celular de indução com LPS foi avaliado o efeito da inibição da atividade de reparo e redox de APE1 sobre a expressão de citocinas inflamatórias. Por fim, foi observada a expressão de APE1 no córtex (CX) e hipocampo (HC) de ratos com MB frente a uma terapia adjuvante com vitamina B6. Nossos resultados mostraram um perfil de moduladores inflamatórios muito semelhante no líquor dos pacientes com MB causada pelos patógenos estudados, embora interferon gama (IFNy) tenha sido VI significativamente mais expresso em pacientes com S. pneumoniae do que N. meningitidis. Quanto ao uso dos inibidores das funções, redox e de reparo, de APE1/Ref-1 no modelo in vitro, houve redução significativa na expressão de algumas citocinas, principalmente o fator de necrose tumoral-alfa (TNF-α). Além disso, os inibidores demonstraram uma redução nos níveis de ERO nas células estimuladas com LPS. No modelo animal, a expressão protéica de APE1/Ref-1, no CX e HC dos ratos, foi modulada após introdução da vitamina B6. Portanto, esses dados fornecem um novo olhar para a fisiopatologia da MB, em que citocinas como IFNy podem ser usadas em um diagnóstico diferencial entre meningites causadas por S. pneumoniae e N. meningitidis. A proteína de reparo de DNA, APE1/Ref-1, parece ser um alvo potencial na modulação da resposta inflamatória e do estresse oxidativo, bem como a terapia adjuvante com vitamina B6 mostra ter um papel sobre a expressão de APE1/Ref-1. Consequentemente, o conhecimento obtido neste estudo pode ser importante na melhoria do prognóstico da MB, além de contribuir para entender a associação entre o reparo de DNA e inflamação2020-01-0

Epidemiological profile of acute bacterial meningitis in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

INTRODUCTION: Acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) remains a public health problem in Brazil. To evaluate the epidemiology of ABM cases at Giselda Trigueiro Hospital, Rio Grande do Norte, a descriptive retrospective survey was conducted covering 2005 to 2008. METHODS: Clinical and laboratory data were collected from the epidemiology department of the hospital and analyzed. RESULTS: Out of 168 ABM cases, 24.4%, 10.7%, and 2.4% were, respectively, caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, Neisseria meningitidis and Haemophilus influenza b, and 5.4% by other bacteria. The mean age was 22.48 ± 18.7 years old. CONCLUSIONS: Streptococcus pneumoniae was the main causative pathogen in the young urban population

SNPs in DNA repair genes associated to meningitis and host immune response

In vitro and in animal models, APE1, OGG1, and PARP-1 have been proposed as being involved with inflammatory response. In this work, we have investigated if the SNPs APE1 Asn148Glu, OGG1 Ser326Cys, and PARP-1 Val762Ala are associated to meningitis. The patient genotypes were investigated by PIRA-PCR or PCR-RFLP. DNA damages were detected in genomic DNA by Fpg treatment. IgG and IgA were measured from plasma and the cytokines and chemokines were measured from cerebrospinal fluid samples using Bio-Plex assays. A higher frequency (P<0.05) of APE1 Glu allele in bacterial meningitis (BM) and aseptic meningitis (AM) patients was observed. The genotypes Asn/Asn in control group and Asn/Glu in BM group was also higher. For the SNP OGG1 Ser326Cys, the genotype Cys/Cys was more frequent (P<0.05) in BM group. The frequency of PARP-1 Val/Val genotype was higher in control group (P<0.05). The occurrence of combined SNPs is significantly higher in BM patients, indicating that these SNPs may be associated to the disease. Increasing in sensitive sites to Fpg was observed in carriers of APE1 Glu allele or OGG1 Cys allele, suggesting that SNPs affect DNA repair activity. Alterations in IgG production were observed in the presence of SNPs APE1 Asn148Glu, OGG1 Ser326Cys or PARP-1 Val762Ala. Moreover, reduction in the levels of IL-6, IL-1Ra, MCP-1/CCL2 and IL-8/CXCL8 was observed in the presence of APE1 Glu allele in BM patients. In conclusion, we obtained indications of an effect of SNPs in DNA repair genes on the regulation of immune response in meningitis