All issues > Volume 43(4); 2000

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 2000;43(4):496-501. Published online April 15, 2000.

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

Eun Joo EJ Ju¹, In Chul IC Ahn¹, Jae Ho JH Lee¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Korea

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¡¾384.3pg/dL) were significantly higher than that of normal control(2.3¡¾4.0pg/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.

Keywords :Interleukin-6(IL-6), Viral meningitis