Abbreviations: PLY - pneumolysin, MK-801 - NMDA receptor inhibitor, AUC -area under curve, RBC - red blood cells, erythrocytes.

Contact details of the senior author/principal investigator: Dr. Asparouh Iliev, Institute of Anatomy, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 2, 3012 Bern, Switzerland, E-mail: asparouh.iliev@unibe.ch, Orcid: 0000-0002-1343-2967.