title: Intrathecal production of interleukin-12 and gamma interferon in patients with bacterial meningitis.
abstract: To assess the role of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and gamma interferon (IFN-gamma) in children with bacterial meningitis, bioactive IL-12 (p70) and the inactive subunit p40 and IFN-gamma were measured in serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from 35 children with bacterial meningitis and 10 control subjects. The production of IFN-gamma is induced by IL-12 with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) as a costimulator and inhibited by IL-10. CSF concentrations of IL-12 p40 as well as those of IFN-gamma were markedly elevated, whereas IL-12 p70 was hardly detectable. Detectable CSF levels of IFN-gamma correlated positively with IL-12 p40 (r = 0.40, P = 0.02) and TNF-alpha (r = 0.46, P = 0.04) but not with IL-6, IL-8, or IL-10. In contrast to CSF levels of TNF-alpha, IL-12, and IL-10, those of IFN-gamma were significantly higher in patients with pneumococcal meningitis than in children with meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitidis, presumably because of a high CSF TNF-alpha/IL-10 ratio in the former. We suggest that IL-12- and TNF-alpha-induced IFN-gamma production may contribute to the natural immunity against microorganisms in the CSF compartment during the acute phase of bacterial meningitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics of Sophia Children's Hospital/University Hospital, Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Kornelisse
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Hack
authors.forename: H F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Savelkoul
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: van der Pouw Kraan
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Hop
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Mierlo
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Suur
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Neijens
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Groot
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D013346:Subarachnoid Space / Q000276:immunology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D018664:Interleukin-12; D007371:Interferon-gamma