J Korean Pediatr Soc.  2000 Apr;43(4):496-501.

The Clinical Significance of Cerebrospinal Fluid Interleukin-6 Levels in Viral Meningitis

• Ju EJ
• Ahn IC
• Lee JH

Abstract

PURPOSE: Cytokines found at a inflammatory site may be a good indicator of clinical severity of an infectious inflammatory disease. We assayed interleukin 6 (IL-6) concentrations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from patients affected with viral meningitis, and verified the relationship between IL-6 and inflammatory parameters and whether IL-6 can be used as a diagnostic marker in the diagnosis of viral meningitis.
METHODS
We measured CSF IL-6 concentration in viral meningitis (30 cases) and healthy children (3 cases) by using ELISA, and also measured serum and cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) chemistry and inflammatory markers, including C-reactive protein (CRP). We compared the data and analyzed the relationship between the results.
RESULTS
The CSF IL-6 levels of viral meningitis (520.1+/-384.3pg/dL) were significantly higher than that of normal control (2.3+/-4.0pg/dL) (P<0.05). The relationship between CSF IL-6 level and serum CRP was significant (P=0.0041). The relationship between CSF protein level and CSF IL-6 level was significant (P=0.001). There was no significant correlation between CSF IL-6 level and CSF WBC count.
CONCLUSION
According to these results, we concluded that viral meningitis is highly associated with CSF IL-6, and we predict CSF IL-6 is useful in the diagnosis and prediction of treatment for viral meningitis.

Keyword

Interleukin-6 (IL-6); Viral meningitis

MeSH Terms

C-Reactive Protein
Cerebrospinal Fluid*
Chemistry
Child
Cytokines
Diagnosis
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Humans
Interleukin-6*
Meningitis, Viral*
C-Reactive Protein
Cytokines
Interleukin-6