Level of tumor necrosis factor-α and its clinical relevance in children with acute bacterial meningitis

Objective To detect the levels of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and peripheral blood in children with acute bacterial meningitis and its clinical relevance to disease development. Methods CSF and peripheral sera were taken from 28 children with acute bacterial meningitis and 20 healthy controls, and TNF-α was measured using an ELISA. TNF-α in CSF and sera also was detected in these patients after receiving antibiotic treatment. The clinical relevance to disease development was thus retrospectively analyzed. Results We found that the levels of TNF-α were significantly increased in the CSF and sera of children with acute bacterial meningitis compared with that in healthy controls (P 0.01). Interestingly, TNF-α was demonstrated to be markedly decreased in children with acute bacterial meningitis after receiving antibiotic treatment (P 0.05).Conclusions TNF-α is significantly increased in children with acute bacterial meningitis. It is probably produced by T lymphocytes and monocytes/macrophages stimulated by bacterial lipoproteins, and plays an important role in disease development.