Cholinesterase modulations in patients with acute bacterial meningitis

Abstract

Background. The circulating cholinesterases acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase may be suppressed and subsequently released from the brain in acute bacterial meningitis. Methods. We report serum activities of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase in paired arterial and jugular venous samples from seven patients with acute bacterial meningitis and eight healthy controls. Paraoxonase 1, which protects these enzymes from oxidative inactivation, was also measured. Findings and conclusion. Acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase activities were lower in patients, independently of changes in paraoxonase 1. Arterial and jugular venous enzyme activities were similar both in patients and controls, suggesting that no cerebral release was present.

Key Words::

• Acetylcholinesterase
• butyrylcholinesterase
• paraoxonase 1
• pneumococcal meningitis
• human experimentation

Acknowledgements

The Centre of Inflammation and Metabolism (CIM) is supported by a grant from the Danish National Research Foundation (# 02-512-55). This study was further supported by the Foundation in Commemoration of Eva and Henry Frænkel, by a Meidan pre-doctoral fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Danish Medical Research Council, the Commission of the European Communities (Grant Agreement no. 223576 - MYOAGE), the Foundation in Commemoration of Holger and Ruth Hesse, the Foundation for Clinical Research in Copenhagen Hospital Corporation, the AP Møller Foundation, the Larsen Foundation, the Skovgaard Foundation, the Hørslev Foundation, the University of Copenhagen, the Laerdal Foundation, the Maigaard Foundation, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the P. Carl Pedersen Foundation, and the Gangsted Foundation. CIM is part of the UNIK Project: Food, Fitness & Pharma for Health and Disease, supported by the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.