The Effect of S. Pneumoniae Bacteremia on Cerebral Blood Flow Autoregulation in Rats

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Abstract
In the present study, we studied the effect of bacteremia on cerebral blood flow (CBF) autoregulation in a rat model of pneumococcal bacteremia and meningitis. Anesthetized rats were divided into five groups (A to E) and inoculated with pneumococci intravenously and normal saline intracisternally (group A, N = 10); saline intravenously and pneumococci intracisternally (group B, N = 10); pneumococci intravenously and pneumococci intracisternally (group C, N = 5); saline intravenously, antipneumococcal antibody intravenously (to prevent bacteremia), and pneumococci intracisternally (group D, N = 10); or saline intravenously and saline intracisternally (group E, N = 10), respectively. Positive cultures occurred in the blood for all rats in groups A, B, and C, and in the cerebrospinal fluid for all rats in groups D and E. Twenty-four hours after inoculation, CBF was measured with laser-Doppler ultrasound during incremental reductions in cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) by controlled hemorrhage. Autoregulatio...