A study on correlations of procalcitonin and interleukin-6 with viral meningitis.

OBJECTIVE: To study the change rules of inflammatory factors in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum of patients with viral meningitis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: 742 patients with suspected viral meningitis admitted to Department of Neurosurgery in our hospital from August 2012 to May 2016 were selected as research objects and retrospectively analyzed. 536 patients were diagnosed with viral meningitis by CSF with the lumbar puncture and brain computed tomography (CT), while the other 206 patients were diagnosed with non-infectious nervous system disease, as the control group. The levels of inflammatory factors interleukin-6 (IL-6) in peripheral blood and procalcitonin (PCT) in cerebrospinal fluid were detected and compared between two groups of patients.

RESULTS: Compared with those in control group, the white blood cell (WBC) count, and levels of serum IL-6 and PCT in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with viral meningitis were all increased (p<0.01). PCT and IL-6 were positively correlated with viral meningitis (r=0.8267, 0.9234). The sensitivity of the two items was 77.81% and 81.32%, respectively, and the specificity was 90.53% and 88.64%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS: The levels of inflammatory factors IL-6 and PCT in serum and CSF of patients with viral meningitis are slightly increased. The detection of the expression levels of IL-6 and PCT in patients with viral meningitis is of great significance for the preliminary diagnosis and rehabilitation of viral meningitis.