Neurochemistry international
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Brain abscesses frequently cause symptoms such as seizures, delirium, paresis and sensory deficits that could reflect brain edema, increased intracranial pressure, or tissue destruction. However, it is also possible that pus constituents could disturb neuronal function in the surrounding brain tissue. In pus from 16 human brain abscesses, extracellular potassium ([K(+)]o) was 10.6 ± 4.8 mmol/L (mean ± SD; maximum value 22.0 mmol/L). ⋯ Pus from 10 extracerebral abscesses (empyemas) also had higher [K(+)]o, zinc, iron, calcium, copper, manganese, and chromium than did CSF. Brain abscess [K(+)]o was significantly higher than serum potassium (3.8 ± 0.5 mmol/L; p = 0.0001), indicating that the elevated abscess [K(+)]o originated from damaged cells (e.g. brain cells and leukocytes), not from serum. High [K(+)]o could depolarize neurons, high levels of zinc could inhibit glutamate and GABA receptors, and high levels of iron and copper could cause oxidative damage, all of which could contribute to neuronal dysfunction in brain abscess patients.