Meningitis associated with HHV-7 in an Iranian immunocompetent adolescent girl.

There is limited literature regarding meningitis associated with HHV-7. This article reports an immunocompetent adolescent girl who developed fever, headache, and meningism which CSF molecular analysis with PCR was positive only for HHV-7. Interestingly, persistent cavum septum pellucidum and cavum vergae were observed on brain magnetic resonance imaging. The patient received antibiotics, dexamethasone, and acyclovir and then she gained full recovery. HHV-7 is a rare and yet possible pathogen in patients with meningitis, and this is the first described case report from Iran.

Naringenin ameliorates learning and memory impairment following systemic lipopolysaccharide challenge in the rat.

Systemic inflammation following infection is usually associated with long-term complications including cognitive deficit and dementia. Neuroinflammation and cognitive decline are also main hallmarks of several neurological conditions. Naringenin is a citrus flavanone with anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective, and antioxidant potential. In this study, the protective effect of naringenin against lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cognitive decline was evaluated in the rat. LPS was daily injected at a dose of 167 µg/kg for 1 week and naringenin was administered p.o. at doses of 25, 50, or 100 mg/kg/day. Treatment of LPS-injected rats with naringenin dose-dependently improved spatial recognition memory in Y maze, discrimination ratio in novel object discrimination task, and retention and recall capability in passive avoidance test. Furthermore, naringenin lowered hippocampal malondialdehyde (MDA) as an index of lipid peroxidation and improved antioxidant defensive system comprising superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione (GSH) in addition to decreasing acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. Additionally, naringenin was able to lower hippocampal nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-κB), toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) level and its immunoreactivity, and to elevate nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Nrf2). Taken together, naringenin could alleviate LPS-induced cognitive deficits and neuroinflammation, as was evident from attenuation of oxidative stress and AChE and modulation of Nrf2/NF-κB/TNFα/COX2/iNOS/TLR4/GFAP.