The Comparison of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF) Concentration in the Serum and Cerebrospinal Fluid of Children with Bacterial Meningitis

Background and objectives: Meningitis is one of the mostcommon infectious of the central nervous system (CNS), definedas an inflammation of the meninges. LIF is a potent proinflammatoryfactor. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contains thegrowth factors and cytokines whose concentrations have beenchanged in most neurological diseases. The aim of this study wasto determine the LIF concentration of serum and CSF in thechildren with bacterial meningitis.Material and Methods: In this study, the total proteinconcentration (TPC) and LIF in the serum and CSF of normalsubjects and children with bacterial meningitis were measured byenzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results: the Values of serum TPC for children with meningitis(74.17±7.73 g/L) and controls (73.50±7.28 g/L) are not differentsignificantly (P=0.7), and the TPC in the CSF of childrensuffering from meningitis and controls are 35±0.03 and 0.34±0.05g/L, respectively (P=0.65). The concentration of serum LIF forchildren with meningitis( 253±19.14 ng/ml) is higher than thatof controls (49.75±8.97 ng/ml), and also the concentration ofLIF in the CSF of the children with meningitis (116.25±8.60ng/ml ) is significantly higher than that of controls which is9.04±1.83ng/ml (P<0.001).Conclusion: The LIF concentration in the CSF and serum mayprovide additional information in the differential diagnosis ofmeningitis. It is also concluded that LIF could be significantlyinvolved in the pathophysiology of meningitis.Key words: Serum, Cerebrospinal fluid, Leukemia inhibitoryfactor, Children, Bacterial meningitis