Levels of interleukin‐6, CRP and α2 macroglobulin in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum as indicator of blood‐ CSF barrier damage

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<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>We measured the levels of interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), albumin, C‐reactive protein (CRP) and α2 macroglobulin (α2M), all of which have different spectrums of molecular weight, in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum in 121 patients to evaluate damage to the blood‐cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCB) in meningitis. There was an extraordinary high level of IL‐6 in the CSF when patients had bacterial or viral meningitis, but the level returned to a normal range within a week in almost all of these cases. There were no significant differences in CSF albumin levels among the different disease groups. The CRP level in CSF is considered to correlate with the serum level, and CSF CRP was higher in bacterial meningitis than in viral meningitis, however, CRP in CSF was increased in some of the infectious diseases without meningitis. The α2M in CSF, which tends to be at extraordinarily high levels when there is damage to the BCB, correlated highly with CSF cell counts. CSF IL‐6 seemed to be a useful indicator to identify the acute active phase of meningitis. CRP and α2M in CSF are considered to be useful to differentiate bacterial meningitis, bacterial infection without meningitis and viral meningitis. Extraordinarily high levels of α2M, which has a high molecular weight, in CSF is indicative of BCB damage.</jats:p>

Journal

  • IUBMB Life

    IUBMB Life 43 269-278, 1997-10-01

    Wiley

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