Role of cerebrospinal fluid IL-8 as a marker for differentiation between acute bacterial and aseptic meningitis

• Published in: Journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology Vol. 44; no. 1; p. 205
• Main Authors: Abdelmoez, Amal Tohamy, Zaky, Doaa Zakaria, Maher, Amany M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Egypt 01-04-2014
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Biomarkers; Female; Humans; Interleukin-8 - cerebrospinal fluid; Interleukin-8 - genetics; Interleukin-8 - metabolism; Male; Meningitis, Aseptic - cerebrospinal fluid; Meningitis, Aseptic - metabolism; Meningitis, Bacterial - cerebrospinal fluid; Meningitis, Bacterial - metabolism; Middle Aged; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1110-0583
• DOI: 10.12816/0006460

No doubt, the distinguishing between bacterial and aseptic meningitis in the emergency department could help to limit unnecessary antibiotic use and hospital admissions. This study evaluated the role of cerebrospinal fluid IL-8 in differentiating acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) from aseptic meningitis (AM). A total of 80 hospitalized patients with clinical presentations of suspected acute meningitis were subjected to estimation of IL-8 CSF concentrations. The results showed that CSF IL-8 levels were higher in acute bacterial meningitis than in aseptic ones (p < 0.05). The best cut-off value of CSF IL8 for early diagnosis of bacterial meningitis was 3.6 ng/ml with a sensitivity of 82.5% and a specificity of 85.0%.