Disease relevance of Brain Abscess

• Five patients received only 1200 mg of ketoconazole: one had uncomplicated coccidioidal meningitis, three had obstructive hydrocephalus due to coccidioidal meningitis, and one had a histoplasmal brain abscess [1].
• The results presented here demonstrate that although they share many redundant activities, IL-1 and TNF-alpha are important for containing bacterial infection in evolving brain abscesses as evident by increased mortality and bacterial burdens in IL-1 and TNF-alpha KO mice compared to wild type (WT) animals [2].
• Pseudallescheria boydii brain abscess: association with near-drowning and efficacy of high-dose, prolonged miconazole therapy in patients with multiple abscesses [3].
• Emboli are important not only in terms of the direct morbidity and mortality they cause via cerebral infarction, but also because of their role in the causation of mycotic aneurysms, brain abscesses, and abnormal CSF formulae [4].
• We studied a patient with a traumatic mucocele, in whom motile ciliated respiratory epithelial cells were seen in the CSF and within a frontal lobe brain abscess [5].

High impact information on Brain Abscess

• Metronidazole and brain abscess [6].
• Diagnosing cerebral abscess with indium-111 labelled leucocytes [7].
• Chloramphenicol is ordinarily the drug of choice for brain abscess [8].
• Letter: Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and brain abscess [9].
• CXC chemokine receptor-2 ligands are required for neutrophil-mediated host defense in experimental brain abscesses [10].

Chemical compound and disease context of Brain Abscess

• Meningitis and brain abscesses were treated successfully with 50 mg/kg of ceftriaxone every 12 hours [11].
• Miconazole appeared to cause resolution of the cerebral abscess [12].
• An exception was 1 patient with a brain abscess, successfully treated with voriconazole and surgical drainage [13].
• Two patients survived their infections, which included involvement of other body sites (lung, eye, bone) as well as multiple undrained brain abscesses, after prolonged courses of high-dose parenteral miconazole (80-90 mg/kg/d) [3].
• The brain abscess concentrations of cefotaxime and desacetylcefotaxime were 1.9 +/- 1.7 and 4.0 +/- 2.2 mg/liter, respectively [14].

Biological context of Brain Abscess

• The importance of virulence factor production in disease development was demonstrated by the inability of heat-inactivated S. aureus to induce proinflammatory cytokine or chemokine expression or brain abscess formation in vivo [15].
• Aquaporin-4 gene deletion in mice increases focal edema associated with staphylococcal brain abscess [16].
• The probable identity of Px was examined in the context of anaerobic glycolysis producing pyruvate (2.37 ppm) and the model of metabolic changes in brain abscess formation implicating succinate (2.40 ppm) [17].

Anatomical context of Brain Abscess

• Positive indium-111 leukocyte scan in Nocardia brain abscess [18].
• To ascertain the functional significance of TLR2 in the context of central nervous system (CNS) parenchymal infection, we evaluated the pathogenesis of S. aureus-induced experimental brain abscess in TLR2 knockout (KO) and wild-type (WT) mice [19].
• The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of the natural peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma agonist 15-deoxy-Delta12,14- prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2) to modulate microglial activation in response to Staphylococcus aureus, one of the main etiologic agents of brain abscess in humans [20].
• Conversely, interleukin-17 (IL-17), a cytokine produced by activated and memory T cells, was significantly elevated in lesions of TLR2 KO mice, suggesting an association between innate and adaptive immunity in brain abscess [19].
• Here we demonstrate the prolonged expression of IL-1 beta, TNF-alpha, and macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2/CXCL2), concomitant with a chronic disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in mice with S. aureus-induced brain abscess [21].

Gene context of Brain Abscess

• These results suggest that IL-1 and TNF-alpha play a pivotal role during the acute stage of brain abscess development through regulating the ensuing anti-bacterial inflammatory response [2].
• Regulation of the inflammatory response to Staphylococcus aureus-induced brain abscess by interleukin-10 [22].
• Expression of basic fibroblast growth factor, nerve growth factor, platelet-derived growth factor and transforming growth factor-beta in human brain abscess [23].
• Using an established Staphylococcus aureus-induced brain abscess model, we have sought to define the functional importance of interleukin-1 (IL-1), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and IL-6 in the host anti-bacterial immune response using cytokine gene knockout (KO) mice [2].
• The expression of several proinflammatory mediators, including inducible nitric oxide synthase, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and macrophage inflammatory protein-2, was significantly attenuated in brain abscesses of TLR2 KO mice compared to WT mice during the acute phase of infection [19].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of Brain Abscess

• The authors demonstrate the use of an extracellular fluorinated agent with a single MR peak for selective imaging of a brain abscess in an animal model and show that the image signal per unit of acquisition time can be enhanced through the use of a T1 relaxation agent, gadolinium diethylenetriamine-pentaacetic acid (DTPA) [24].
• Factors significantly predictive of outcome in patients with transcranial stab injuries were the Glasgow Coma Scale score (F = 43.7), the occurrence of intraventricular hemorrhage (F = 22.8), the type of associated lesion (intracranial bleed, vascular abnormality, or brain abscess) (F = 5.9), and the number of operations (F = 3.2) [25].
• We report here the first case of successful treatment of N. farcinica brain abscess in a renal transplant recipient with an extended-spectrum fluoroquinolone, moxifloxacin [26].
• The late complications of brain abscess and CSF leak are well imaged by CT; the latter is best assessed (during activity) by preview-controlled CT after intrathecal injection of metrizamide [27].
• Evaluation of treatment effects in brain abscess with positron emission tomography: comparison of fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose and carbon-11-methionine [28].

References