Cerebrospinal fluid levels of interleukin-6 and interleukin-12 in children with meningitis.
OBJECTIVE
Certain cytokines play important roles in the pathophysiology of meningitis. The main purpose of this study was to investigate if the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-12 (IL-12) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) could be diagnostic predictors of bacterial meningitis in children.


METHODS
CSF was obtained from 95 patients suspected with meningitis. These cases were classified to the bacterial meningitis (n = 12), aseptic meningitis (n = 41), and nonmeningitis (n = 42) groups. The levels of IL-6 and IL-12 in CSF were measured using the enzyme-linked immmunosorbent assays test.


RESULTS
The CSF IL-6 levels in the bacterial meningitis group (45.2 +/- 50.0 pg/ml) were significantly higher than those in the aseptic meningitis group (12.9 +/- 10.2 pg/ml) and the nonmeningitis group (6.5 +/- 7.8 pg/ml; p < 0.05). The CSF IL-12 levels in the bacterial meningitis group (69.8 +/- 67.1 pg/ml) were significantly higher than those in the aseptic meningitis group (22.9 +/- 10.8 pg/ml) and the nonmeningitis group (15.3 +/- 11.2 pg/ml; p < 0.05). With regard to diagnosis, the measurement of CSF IL-6 and IL-12 levels showed sensitivities of 96% and 96%, respectively, and specificities of 51% and 75%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
It is suggested that the CSF IL-6 and IL-12 levels are useful markers for distinguishing bacterial meningitis from aseptic meningitis.
Hsieh
Chia-Chang
CC
Department of Pediatrics, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, 201, Sec. 2, Shih-Pai Road, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Lu
Jen-Her
JH
Chen
Shu-Jen
SJ
Lan
Cheng-Chou
CC
Chow
Wen-Chi
WC
Tang
Ren-Bin
RB
D000293:Adolescent; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D008582:Meningitis, Aseptic / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D015850:Interleukin-6; D018664:Interleukin-12; D002097:C-Reactive Protein