Time-dependent behavioral recovery after pneumococcal meningitis in rats

Alterations in hippocampus frequently occur following bacterial meningitis, despite antibiotic treatment. We investigated the cognitive performance in rats submitted to bacterial meningitis after 10, 30, and 60 days. To this aim, we utilized male Wistar rats submitted to either sham (control) or meningitis by Streptococcus pneumoniae, and followed by the initiation of the antibiotic treatment at 16 h after inoculation. The animals underwent six behavioral tasks 10, 30 and 60 days after surgery. We demonstrated that some of the learning and memory impairment, demonstrated 10 days after the induction of meningitis, persists up to 30 days, but not 60 days after induction.