The CCR5 antagonist maraviroc exerts limited neuroprotection without improving neurofunctional outcome in experimental pneumococcal meningitis.

Le, Ngoc Dung; Steinfort, Marel; Grandgirard, Denis; Maleska, Aleksandra; Leppert, David; Kuhle, Jens; Leib, Stephen L (2022). The CCR5 antagonist maraviroc exerts limited neuroprotection without improving neurofunctional outcome in experimental pneumococcal meningitis. Scientific reports, 12(1), p. 12945. Springer Nature 10.1038/s41598-022-17282-0

Preview

Text s41598-022-17282-0__1_.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution (CC-BY). Download (3MB) | Preview

One-third of pneumococcal meningitis (PM) survivors suffer from neurological sequelae including learning disabilities and hearing loss due to excessive neuroinflammation. There is a lack of efficacious compounds for adjuvant therapy to control this long-term consequence of PM. One hallmark is the recruitment of leukocytes to the brain to combat the bacterial spread. However, this process induces excessive inflammation, causing neuronal injury. Maraviroc (MVC)-a CCR5 antagonist-was demonstrated to inhibit leukocyte recruitment and attenuate neuroinflammation in several inflammatory diseases. Here, we show that in vitro, MVC decreased nitric oxide production in astroglial cells upon pneumococcal stimulation. In vivo, infant Wistar rats were infected with 1 × 104 CFU/ml S. pneumoniae and randomized for treatment with ceftriaxone plus MVC (100 mg/kg) or ceftriaxone monotherapy. During the acute phase, neuroinflammation in the CSF was measured and histopathological analyses were performed to determine neuronal injury. Long-term neurofunctional outcome (learning/memory and hearing capacity) after PM was assessed. MVC treatment reduced hippocampal cell apoptosis but did not affect CSF neuroinflammation and the neurofunctional outcome after PM. We conclude that MVC treatment only exerted limited effect on the pathophysiology of PM and is, therefore, not sufficiently beneficial in this experimental paradigm of PM.

Interest & Impact

Downloads

48 since deposited on 03 Aug 2022
31 in the past 12 months

Citations

5 Citations in Web of Science ®
6 Citations in Scopus

Search

in Google Scholar™

Services

Actions (login required)

Edit item

Actions (login required)

Edit item