According to statistics, it is recorded approximately every year in the world. 1.2 million cases of bacterial meningitisand treatment helps reduce the death rate to three out of ten. Meanwhile, one in five survivors develop hearing or vision loss, seizures, chronic headaches and other neurological complications.

The main reason for this is that antibiotics and steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs do not have the necessary efficacy, especially if the treatment is started late due to the delay in the diagnosis of the infection.

A new discovery of scientists will help prevent infection at an early stage and prevent the development of serious complications – hearing and vision loss, chronic pain and others – that lead to serious neurological disorders. Potential therapeutic compounds have already been found in current migraine medications.

Researchers find mechanism for bacteria to penetrate brain

In experiments on mouse models, it was determined that when bacteria reach the meninges, a toxin that activates pain neurons is released. The scientists explain that this process explains the severe headache characteristic of meningitis. They then learned that the neurons began to secrete the signaling substance CGRP, which binds to the RAMP1 receptor of the immune cells, and that the immune cell shuts down as soon as this interaction occurs.

Further observations showed that CGRP binds to the RAMP1 receptor on macrophages, preventing other immune cells from helping against the pathogen. As a result, bacteria can actively multiply, causing a wide spread of infection.

Can it be treated?

The test of the RAMP1 inhibitor showed significant results – the presence of bacteria in the meninges was reduced, the animals showed an increased ability to fight the pathogen and a decrease in meningitis symptoms.

Compounds that block CGRP and RAMP1 have already been found in commonly used migraine medications. They will be tested in future studies, both alone and in combination with antibiotics.