Clinical application value of pro-inflammatory cytokines and procalcitonin in intracranial infection

Objective To study the clinical application value of cerebrospinal fluid of proinflammatory interleukin-6(IL6),interleukin-8(IL8) and serum procalcitonin(PCT) to identify the nature of intracranial infection.Methods Twenty-five patients with purulent meningitis were selected as purulent meningitis group,34 patients with viral encephalitis as viral encephalitis group,and another 16 healthy patients as a control group.The changes of cerebrospinal fluid IL-6,IL-8 and serum PCT concentration of different groups were compared.Results In purulent meningitis group,the cerebrospinal fluid IL-6,IL-8 and serum PCT were(332.8±62.3),(2.64±0.52) and(22.64±14.8),respectively.A substantial rise was seen.IL-6(91.8±18.2) and IL-8(0.68±0.36) of the viral encephalitis group were elevated to a certain extent.The differences of the three groups were statistically different(P0.05).Levels of IL-6,IL-8 and PCT of the purulent encephalitis group,and Il-6 and IL-8 of the viral encephalitis group were statistically different from they were after treatment(P0.05).CSF IL-6(r=0.576 P0.05),IL-8(r=0.429 P0.05)and serum PCT(r=0.714 P0.05)and WBC of the purulent encephalitis group showed a positive correlation.Conclusion Cerebrospinal fluid IL-6,IL-8,and the detection of serum PCT have important clinical application value on the identification of intracranial infection type,condition monitoring and efficacy evaluation.