[Changes of urinary proteins in a bacterial meningitis rat model]

Unlike cerebrospinal fluid or blood, urine accumulates metabolic changes of the body and has the potential to be a promising source of early biomarkers discovery. Bacterial meningitis is a major cause of illness among neonates and children worldwide. In this study, we used Escherichia coli-injected rat model to mimic meningitis and collected urine samples on day 1 and day 3. We used two different methods to digest proteins and analyzed peptides by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We identified 17 and 20 differential proteins by two methods respectively on day 1, and 5 differential proteins by filter-aided digestion method on day 3. Finding these differential proteins laid a foundation to further explore biomarkers of bacterial meningitis.