D-mannitol in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with AIDS and cryptococcal meningitis.
Cryptococcal meningitis (CM) is associated with raised intracranial pressure which is linked with serious neurological sequelae. Cryptococcus neoformans produces D-mannitol in vitro and in experimental meningitis in rabbits. Mannitol present in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of CM patients could exacerbate raised intracranial pressure and contribute to neurological damage. To link CSF mannitol to cryptococcal infection, levels of mannitol in the CSF of AIDS patients with CM were measured by gas-liquid chromatography. Mannitol was detected in 19 of 21 samples (range, 1.5 to 26.2 mg/liter), but there was no quantitative correlation between the mannitol concentration and the cryptococcal antigen titer.
Megson
G M
GM
Department of Microbiology, Hope Hospital, Salford, United Kingdom.
Stevens
D A
DA
Hamilton
J R
JR
Denning
D W
DW
D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D000946:Antigens, Fungal / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D003454:Cryptococcus / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006801:Humans; D007427:Intracranial Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D008353:Mannitol / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000592:standards; D016919:Meningitis, Cryptococcal / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012015:Reference Standards
D000946:Antigens, Fungal; D008353:Mannitol