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Infection and Immunity, March 1999, p. 1455-1460, Vol. 67, No. 3
The Basil and Gerald Felsenstein Medical
Research Center,
Received 5 August 1998/Accepted 3 December 1998
Neurologic manifestations, mainly convulsions, are the most
frequent extraintestinal complications of shigellosis. We used an
animal model to study the roles of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Involvement of Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha and Interleukin-1
in Enhancement of Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Seizures Caused by
Shigella dysenteriae
) and interleukin-1
(IL-1
) in
Shigella-related seizures. Administration of Shigella
dysenteriae 60R sonicate enhanced the sensitivity of mice to the
proconvulsant pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) within 7 h. This was
indicated by a significantly higher mean convulsion score and an
increased number of mice responding with clonic-tonic seizures in the
Shigella-pretreated group. Preinjection of mice with
anti-murine TNF-
(anti-mTNF-
) or anti-murine IL-1
(anti-mIL-1
) 30 min prior to administration of Shigella
sonicate abolished their enhanced response to PTZ at 7 h. Mean
convulsion scores were reduced by anti-mTNF-
from 1.2 to 0.8 (P = 0.017) and by anti-mIL-1
from 1.3 to 0.7 (P = 0.008). Preinjection of anti-mTNF-
also
reduced the percentage of mice responding with clonic-tonic seizures,
from 48 to 29% (P = 0.002), and preinjection of
anti-mIL-1
reduced it from 53 to 21% (P = 0.012).
Neutralization of TNF-
or IL-1
did not protect the mice from
death due to S. dysenteriae 60R. These findings indicate
that TNF-
and IL-1
play a role in the very early sensitization of
the central nervous system to convulsive activity after S. dysenteriae administration. Similar mechanisms may trigger
neurologic disturbances in other infectious diseases.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: P.O.B. 8145, Petah Tikva 49181, Israel. Phone: 972-3-9253680/1. Fax:
972-3-9253056/3899. E-mail: shkenazi{at}post.tau.ac.il.
Infection and Immunity, March 1999, p. 1455-1460, Vol. 67, No. 3
0019-9567/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
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