Meningitis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Meningitis, including details on viral, bacterial, spinal, symptoms, treatment.

IL-7 engages multiple mechanisms to overcome chronic viral infection and limit organ pathology.

Pellegrini M, Calzascia T, Toe JG, Preston SP, Lin AE, Elford AR, Shahinian A, Lang PA, Lang KS, Morre M, Assouline B, Lahl K, Sparwasser T, Tedder TF, Paik JH, DePinho RA, Basta S, Ohashi PS, Mak TW

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

Understanding the factors that impede immune responses to persistent viruses is essential in designing therapies for HIV infection. Mice infected with LCMV clone-13 have persistent high-level viremia and a dysfunctional immune response. Interleukin-7, a cytokine that is critical for immune development and homeostasis, was used here to promote immunity toward clone-13, enabling elucidation of the inhibitory pathways underlying impaired antiviral immune response. Mechanistically, IL-7 downregulated a critical repressor of cytokine signaling, Socs3, resulting in amplified cytokine production, increased T cell effector function and numbers, and viral clearance. IL-7 enhanced thymic output to expand the naive T cell pool, including T cells that were not LCMV specific. Additionally, IL-7 promoted production of cytoprotective IL-22 that abrogated liver pathology. The IL-7-mediated effects were dependent on endogenous IL-6. These attributes of IL-7 have profound implications for its use as a therapeutic in the treatment of chronic viral diseases.

Published 21 February 2011 in Cell, 144(4): 601-13.
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Articles on Meningitis published 28 January 2011:

Human meningitis from Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus acquired as zoonoses.   Epidemiol Infect, 139(3): 406-10.

Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus rarely causes meningitis in humans by contact with domestic animals or their unpasteurized products. In this paper we reviewed the literature pertaining to the epidemiological and clinical aspects relating to this infection on previously reported cases of human disease. Additionally, the case of a 51-year-old female who acquired meningitis with this organism after contact with a horse is described. This patient was successfully treated with ceftriaxone, ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Human meningitis from Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus acquired as zoonoses.   Epidemiol Infect, 139(3): 406-10.

Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus rarely causes meningitis in humans by contact with domestic animals or their unpasteurized products. In this paper we reviewed the literature pertaining to the epidemiological and clinical aspects relating to this infection on previously reported cases of human disease. Additionally, the case of a 51-year-old female who acquired meningitis with this organism after contact with a horse is described. This patient was successfully treated with ceftriaxone, ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Meningitis published 17 January 2011:

Deciphering the roles of outer membrane protein A extracellular loops in the pathogenesis of Escherichia coli K1 meningitis.   J Biol Chem, 286(3): 2183-93.

Outer membrane protein A (OmpA) has been implicated as an important virulence factor in several gram-negative bacterial infections such as Escherichia coli K1, a leading cause of neonatal meningitis associated with significant mortality and morbidity. In this study, we generated E. coli K1 mutants that express OmpA in which three or four amino acids from various extracellular loops were changed to alanines, and we examined their ability to survive in several immune cells. We observed that loop ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Meningitis published 6 January 2011:

Bacterial pore-forming cytolysins induce neuronal damage in a rat model of neonatal meningitis.   J Infect Dis, 203(3): 393-400.

[Abstract] [Full-text]

Varicella zoster disease of the central nervous system: epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory features 10 years after the introduction of the varicella vaccine.   J Infect Dis, 203(3): 316-23.

[Abstract] [Full-text]

Bacterial pore-forming cytolysins induce neuronal damage in a rat model of neonatal meningitis.   J Infect Dis, 203(3): 393-400.

[Abstract] [Full-text]

Varicella zoster disease of the central nervous system: epidemiological, clinical, and laboratory features 10 years after the introduction of the varicella vaccine.   J Infect Dis, 203(3): 316-23.

[Abstract] [Full-text]

Articles on Meningitis published 3 January 2011:

Molecular identification of human enteroviruses in children with neurological infections from the central region of Argentina.   Arch Virol, 156(1): 129-33.

In the central area of Argentina, epidemiological and molecular characteristics of human enterovirus infections are still unknown. RT-nested PCR of the highly conserved 5'NCR was used to detect enteroviruses in 168 samples of cerebrospinal fluid from hospitalized patients with suspected infection of the central nervous system (2007-2008), and 13 (7.7%) were positive. Molecular typing was performed by sequencing of the 3'-half VP1 region. Echovirus 30 was the predominant type detected, followed ... [Abstract] [Full-text]

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