Level of IL-17 and MMP-9 in cerebrospinal fluid of children with tuberculous meningitis and its significance

Objective To detect the levels of IL-17 and MMP-9 in cerebrospinal fluid of children with tuberculous meningitis,and to study their role in the diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.Methods The 15 cases of children with tuberculous meningitis (TBM),20 cases of children with viral encephalitis (VM) and 18 cases of children without central nervous system infections,were choosed as the TBM group,the VM group and the control group.The levels of IL-17 and MMP-9 in cerebrospinal fluid were detected by ELISA method.Results The levels of IL-17 and MMP-9 in cerebrospinal fluid in TBM group increased significantly.Compared with other two groups,respectively,the differences were significant (P ＜0.01).Conclusions The levels of IL-17 and MMP-9 in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with tuberculous meningitis were all highly increased,suggesting they might be involved in the pathological process of tuberculous meningitis.The levels of IL-17 and MMP-9 in cerebrospinal fluid can help identification of tuberculous meningitis with viral meningitis. Key words: Tuberculous meningitis;  Viral encephalitis;  Inter leukin-17; Matrix metall oproteinase-9; Cerebrospinal fluid; Children