title: A study of cytokines in tuberculous meningitis: clinical and MRI correlation.
abstract: There is paucity of studies on cytokines in tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and their relation with clinical and radiological changes; therefore this study was undertaken. 16 TBM patients diagnosed on the basis of clinical, CSF and radiological criteria were included. They were subjected to TNF-alpha, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-1beta, and IL-12p70 estimation in CSF. The cytokine levels were also estimated in 10 controls. Initial clinical examination, stage of TBM and MRI findings (infarct, hydrocephalus, tuberculoma and exudates) were recorded. The patients were treated with 4 drugs antitubercular (RHZE) therapy and after 3 months clinical examination, cytokine levels, and radiological studies were repeated. Outcome was defined by Barthel index score at 3 months into poor, partial and complete recovery. The patient's age ranged between 10 and 50 years, 5 were females. At 3 months, all the patients were clinically followed up and 14 underwent repeat MRI. 10 patients improved, 1 remained stable and 5 deteriorated. There was worsening with respect to tuberculoma in 3, infarction in 2 and exudate in 1 patient. TNF-alpha was expressed in 32% patients, IL-6, IL-10, IL-1beta and IL-8 were significantly expressed in patients and declined after 3 months following treatment. The cytokine levels did not correlate with stage of meningitis, outcome and radiological deterioration or improvement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Raebareily Road, Lucknow 226014, India. drukmisra@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Usha Kant
authors.initials: UK
authors.lastname: Misra
authors.forename: Jayantee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kalita
authors.forename: Ruchi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srivastava
authors.forename: Pradeep P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.forename: Manoj Kumar
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Anirban
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Basu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000995:Antitubercular Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D016207:Cytokines / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D018450:Disease Progression; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014390:Tuberculosis, Meningeal / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000995:Antitubercular Agents; D016207:Cytokines