The Expression of Interleukin-1Β and MIRNA-146A in the Cerebral Cortex of Acute <em>Escherichia coli</em> Meningitis Immature Rat Model

The main limitation to advances in treatment of bacterial meningitis and its complications is the incomplete knowledge of the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of this disease. The aim of this research is to detect the expression of interleukin (IL)-1β as pro-inflammatory cytokine and miRNA (miR)-146a as post transcriptional inflammation associated microRNA (miRNA) in the cerebral cortex of acute Escherichia coli (E. coli) meningitis immature rat model. Immature rats in the post natal day 11 (PN11) were used to construct a model of acute E. coli meningitis and served as controls. The expression of IL-1β and miR-146a were detected in the cerebral cortex by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis respectively, 24 hours after bacterial inoculation. In the cerebral cortical tissue of acute E. coli meningitis immature rat model the IL-1β expression was significantly upregulated while the miR-146a expression was significantly downregulated. This study tried to add a new insight on the molecular basis of the E. coli meningitis pathogenesis at its very early stage through detecting the expression of IL-1β and miR-146a in the cerebral cortex of the infected immature rats. Consequently, modulation of the IL-1β- miR-146a axis may be a new target for treatment of acute E. coli meningitis.