CAS BI 114 Lecture 12: BI114 Infectious Diseases of the Nervous System
Infectious Diseases of the Nervous System
Nervous System
•Sterile site
•No opportunistic infections
•No micro-biome
•Consists mainly of: Brain, Spinal Cord, Peripheral Nerves
•Sorted into: Central Nervous System (brains/spinal cord) & Peripheral Nervous System (nerves)
Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF)
•Derived from the blood that circulates around the brain and meninges
•Blood is filtered by a system called the blood brain barrier before entering
•The brain is an immunoprivileged site
•Meninges - hover over the brain and spinal cord protecting them
•Between the soft tissue of the brain and hard tissue of the skull
Synapse
•Spinal cord function - communication
•Synapse - a junction between neurons is called a synapse, a point of continuing communication
•Neuromuscular Junction - synapses between neurons and muscle cells
Meningitis
•-itis is a suffix meaning the inflammation of (ex: sinusitis, gastritis, meningitis)
•Meningitis - inflammation of the meninges
•Can be caused by several types of microbes (ex: bacteria, viruses, fungi)
•As meninges become inflamed, they become thicker and push against the skull
•Because the skull tissues is thick meninges are forced to push the other way against the soft brain
tissue
•This eventually squishes the neurons and causes irreversible brain damage because once you lose
a neuron you can never get it back
Meningitis
•Getting in -
•Through the blood
•A pathogen is generally virulent, around for a long time, has already caused blood vessel damage
•Through a damage in the bones of the face/skull
•Through a breech in the meninges (injection)
•Commonalities to meningitis diseases -
•Often fatal
•Induces fever, headaches and neck stiffness
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com