Meningococcal Meningitis

Meningococcal Meningitis

Meningococcal meningitis is a serious bacterial infection disease with high mortality rate caused by the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis (also termed meningococcus). Although it is a vaccine-preventable disease, the meningococcal infection disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality all over the world. In most instances, the meningococcus is a harmless colonizer of the human nasopharynx, but in some very small percentage of individuals it can enter into bloodstream and invade the entire body especially limbs and brain which thereafter resulting serious illness. The incidence of this disease is more likely to occur in infants under 1 year of age and in adolescents and young adults between the ages of 15 and 25 years. Meningococcal disease is contagious which could be transmitted via saliva.

Fig. 1 Distribution of meningococcal meningitis in the African meningitis belt reveals regional patterns and hotspots.¹

Pathogenesis of Meningococcal Meningitis

Despite abundant efforts have been put into the disease, the underlying pathogenesis of meningococcal infection disease is not fully understood. In meningitis patients, meningococcus attacks meninges, the lining between the brain and skull. The fluid with meningococci from the meninges can pass into the spinal cord which thereafter leads to corresponding clinical manifestations including a sudden onset of headache, fever, rashes, and stiffness of the neck, sometimes accompanied by nausea, vomiting, photophobia, and an altered mental status.

And the meninges may begin to swell which have a serious effect on the central nervous system. The sepsis type of infection may result in a serious blood poisoning termed meningococcal sepsis that leads to systemic effects and will be much more deadly. Even management with appropriate treatment in infected patients, the case-fatality rate remains high. And many survivors of this disease may suffer certain damage of the body like losing a limb or their hearing or permanent damage of their brain.

The Role of Complement in Meningococcal Meningitis

Previous reports have demonstrated that host genetic factors have a primary impact on the development of meningococcal infection. One-third of the total risk of contracting meningococcal infection may be caused by the factor of host genetics. The complement deficiencies may lead to the increased susceptibility of individuals as the complement system plays an essential role in the defense against infections.

As the central component of the complement system, C3 keeps at the convergence of all three activation pathways. Inherited C3 deficiency is associated with the increase of meningococcus infections. It is also reported that three allelic variants of MBL are associated with increased susceptibility of children to meningococcal infection in cohorts of patients recruited from hospitals and the community in England. In addition, individuals with deficiencies of C5-C9 fail to form the MAC and are therefore more sensitive to meningococcal infections as has been described in many studies.

The complement therapy now earns more and more attention in the treatment of meningococcal meningitis. Creative Biolabs is honored to guide our clients’ drug development research in meningococcal meningitis based on our advanced Complement Therapeutics Platform. Please feel free to contact us for detailed information.

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Reference
1. From Wikipedia: By Ninjatacoshell - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0， https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meningococcal_Meningitis_Range.svg

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