PURPOSE: Late diagnosis and treatment lead to high mortality and poor prognosis in tuberculous meningitis (TbM). A rapid and accurate diagnosis is necessary for a good prognosis. Neuron-specific enolase (NSE) has been investigated as a biochemical marker of nervous tissue damage. In the present study, the usefulness of NSE was evaluated, and a cut-off value for the differential diagnosis of TbM was proposed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patient charts were reviewed for levels of serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) NSE, obtained from a diagnostic CSF study of samples in age- and gender-matched TbM (n=15), aseptic meningitis (n=28) and control (n=37) patients. RESULTS: CSF/serum NSE ratio was higher in the TbM group than those of the control and aseptic groups (p=0.001). In binary logistic regression, CSF white blood cell count and CSF/serum NSE ratio were significant factors for diagnosis of TbM. When the cut-off value of the CSF/serum NSE ratio was 1.21, the sensitivity was 86.7% and the specificity was 75.4%. CONCLUSION: The CSF/serum NSE ratio could be a useful parameter for the early diagnosis of TbM. In addition, the authors of the present study suggest a cut-off value of 1.21 for CSF/serum NSE ratio.
Adult ; Case-Control Studies ; Female ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase/*blood/*cerebrospinal fluid ; Tuberculosis, Meningeal/blood/*diagnosis/metabolism

PURPOSE: Preterm very low birth weight infant have high rate of adverse neurodevelopmental sequale. Recently, there have been lots of reports that human umbilical cord blood transplantation ameliorates functional deficits in animal models as hypoxic ischemic injury. This pilot study was undertaken to determine the clinical efficacy and safety of autologous umbilical cord blood cell transplantation for preventing neurodevelopmental sequale in perterm VLBW. METHODS: Subjects were 26 preterm infants whose birth weight are less than 1,500 g and delivered under the intrauterine period 34 weeks. Autologous umbilical mononuclear cells (about 5.87x10(7)/kg) were injected to neonate via the umbilical vein on the postnatal 24-48 hour. The therapeutic efficacy was assessed by numbers of nucleated RBC, urinary uric acid/creatinine ratio, concentration of neuron specific enolase (NSE), interleukin 6 (IL6), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), and glial cell derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) in serum and cerebrospinal fluid on day 1 and 7. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the numbers of the nucleated RBC, urinary uric acid/creatinine ratio, concentration of creatine kinase between the transplanted infants and controls. But the nucleated RBC is more likely to be rapidly discharged in the transplanted group. In the transplanted group, the concentrations of IL6, IL-1beta, and GDNF were no significant difference between day 1 and 7, although GDNF seemed to be elevated. Serum NSE concentration was significantly elevated after transplantation, but not in CSF. CONCLUSION: It is suggested that autologous umbilical cord blood transplantation in preterm very low birth weight infant is safe to apply clinical practice. Long term follow up study should be needed to evaluate the potential therapeutic effect of umbilical cord blood transplantation for neuroprotection.
Birth Weight ; Cell Transplantation ; Cerebrospinal Fluid ; Creatine Kinase ; Fetal Blood* ; Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor ; Humans ; Infant* ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Premature ; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight* ; Interleukin-1beta ; Interleukin-6 ; Models, Animal ; Neuroglia ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; Pilot Projects* ; Transplants ; Umbilical Cord* ; Umbilical Veins