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Infection and Immunity, November 2002, p. 6504-6508, Vol. 70, No. 11
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.11.6504-6508.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Decreased Virulence of a Pneumolysin-Deficient Strain of Streptococcus pneumoniae in Murine Meningitis
Andreas Wellmer,1 Gregor Zysk,2 Joachim Gerber,1 Tammo Kunst,1 Matthias von Mering,1 Stefanie Bunkowski,1 Helmut Eiffert,3 and Roland Nau1*
Departments of Neurology,1
Bacteriology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen,3
Institute of Medical Microbiology and Virology, University of Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany2
Received 8 April 2002/
Returned for modification 5 June 2002/
Accepted 29 July 2002
Pneumolysin, neuraminidases A and B, and hyaluronidase are virulence factors of Streptococcus pneumoniae that appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of meningitis. In a murine model of meningitis after intracerebral infection using mutants of S. pneumoniae D39, only mice infected with a pneumolysin-deficient strain were healthier at 32 and 36 h, had lower bacterial titers in blood at 36 h, and survived longer than the D39 parent strain. Cerebellar and spleen bacterial titers, meningeal inflammation, and neuronal damage scores remained uninfluenced by the lack of any of the virulence factors.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dept. of Neurology, University of Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, D-37075 Göttingen, Germany. Phone: 49-551-398455. Fax: 49-551-398405. E-mail:
rnau{at}gwdg.de.
Editor: V. J. DiRita
Infection and Immunity, November 2002, p. 6504-6508, Vol. 70, No. 11
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.11.6504-6508.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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