title: Cytokines involved in CNS manifestations caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
abstract: Mycoplasma pneumoniae sometimes causes central nervous system manifestations, which may involve the host immune response, as the organism does not directly damage neural cells, or release toxins. Therefore we measured the levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-8, interleukin-18, interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and transforming growth factor-beta1 in serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples from patients who manifested central nervous system manifestations during acute M. pneumoniae infection. The subjects were nine patients with early-onset encephalitis (central nervous system disease onset within 7 days from the onset of fever), four with late-onset encephalitis (onset at 8 days or later), three with encephalitis but without fever, and three with aseptic meningitis. Intrathecal elevations of interleukin-6 and interleukin-8 in all four types of central nervous system manifestations, and of interleukin-18 in late-onset encephalitis were observed. None of the cerebrospinal fluid samples contained detectable levels of interferon-gamma, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or transforming growth factor-beta1. In conclusion, interleukin-6, interleukin-8, and interleukin-18 might be involved in the inflammatory process leading to the central nervous system manifestations caused by M. pneumoniae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Sapporo Tetsudo (JR) Hospital, Sapporo, Japan.
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Narita
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Takehiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Togashi
authors.forename: Shosaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D004660:Encephalitis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D008297:Male; D008582:Meningitis, Aseptic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D009177:Mycoplasma pneumoniae; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D020382:Interleukin-18; D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; C508960:TGFB1 protein, human; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma