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Updated: Jul 15, 2026

Investigating Alterations in Caecum Microbiota After Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice
Published on: September 19, 2019
Bacterial meningitis: the role of transforming growth factor-Beta in innate immunity and secondary brain damage
Ursula Malipiero1, Uwe Koedel, Walter Pfister
1Clinics for Immunology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Project 6 of the NCCR 'Neural Plasticity and Repair' focuses on mechanisms of immunity and tissue damage in autoimmune and infectious diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). In one of the subprojects, the influence of transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) on the immune reactivity of the CNS was investigated. In mice with Streptococcus pneumoniae-induced meningitis, a deletion of TGF-beta receptor II on leukocytes is found to enhance recruitment of neutrophils to the site of infection and to promote bacterial clearance. The improved host defense against S. pneumoniae was associated with an almost complete prevention of meningitis-induced vasculitis, a major intracranial complication leading to brain damage. The data show that endogenous TGF-beta suppresses host defense against bacterial infection in the CNS. This contrasts with findings from other body compartments that suggested that TGF-beta is a powerful chemotactic cytokine and increases microbial clearance.
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