Study On The Changes Of Cerebrospinal Fluid And Serum Levels Of Interleukin-12 And Its Significance In Patients With Cryptococcus Meningitis

Objective:Interleukin-12(IL-12) is an important cytokine in the immunologic response when the body suffers from an fungal infection,but there are few researches in the effect of Cryptococcus Meningitis(CM) pathogenesis.To investigate the Cerebrospinal Fluid(CSF) and Serum levels of IL-12 in patients with CM and probe into its clinical values and possible roles in the pathogenesis of CM.Mthods:The CSF and serum levels of IL-12 were measured by a double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) in 39 CM patients and 40 healthy subjects. Parameters of biochemistry function within CSF including Protein,Glucose and Chloride were detected by automatic biochemistry analyzer, meanwhile White Blood Cell(WBC) were measured by Urinary sediment autoanalyzer. Furthermore,we analyzed the association between IL-12 and clinical parameters including Protein,Glucose,Chloride and WBC.Results:1. Compared with the healthy subjects in CSF(2.97±0.88pg/ml) and Serum(5.44±1.47 pg/ml),the levels of IL-12 in CSF(16.24±2.25pg/ml) and Serum (13.47±1.99pg/ml) were significantly increased in CM patients.The CSF levels of IL-12 in the death group(19.79±0.95pg/ml) were higher than in the survival group(15.17±1.14 pg/ml) (P<0.01). With the improvement of clinical manifestation,the levels of IL-12 were significantly decreased in the survival group.2. The levels of IL-12 in CM patients were positively correlate with WBC(r=0.60,P<0.01) and negatively correlate with Glucose(r=-0.57,P<0.01).However , there was not obvious correlation with IL-12 level and Protein(r=0.01,P>0.05) or Chloride (r=0.004,P>0.05).Conclusions:1. The findings indicate that IL-12 may attend the pathological progress of CM. There is somewhat consistency between the patient's severity and the CSF levels of IL-12,which is closely related to the prognosis.2. The measurement of CSF levels of IL-12 might predict the prognosis of CM patients.3. The measurement of CSF levels of IL-12 may provide clinical clues and theoretical basis.