Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major meningitis-causing pathogen globally, bringing about significant morbidity and mortality, as well as long-term neurological sequelae in almost half of the survivors. Subsequent to nasopharyngeal colonisation and systemic invasion, translocation across the blood‒brain barrier (BBB) by S. pneumoniae is a crucial early step in the pathogenesis of meningitis. The BBB, which normally protects the central nervous system (CNS) from deleterious molecules within the circulation, becomes dysfunctional in S. pneumoniae invasion due to the effects of pneumococcal toxins and a heightened host inflammatory environment of cytokines, chemokines and reactive oxygen species intracranially. The bacteria‒host interplay within the CNS likely determines not only the degree of BBB pathological changes, but also host survival and the extent of neurological damage. This review explores the relationship between S. pneumoniae bacteria and the host inflammatory response, with an emphasis on the BBB and its roles in CNS protection, as well as both the acute and long-term pathogenesis of meningitis.
Keywords: Streptococcus; blood‒brain barrier; infection; inflammation; meningitis; pneumococcal; pneumonia.