Value of fibronectin, vascular endothelial growth factor and lactate dehydrogenas levels in cerebrospinal fluid in diagnosing bacterial meningitis and viral encephalitis in children

  Objective  To investigate the values of fibronectin(FN), vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and lactate dehydrogenas(LDH) levels in cerebrospinal fluid in differential diagnosis of children with bacterial meningitis(BM) and viral encephalitis (VE).

  Methods  Thirty-one children with BM (BM group), thirty-four children with VE (VE group) and twenty-six children without central nervous system(CNS) infection (control group) were collected as research subjects. The levels of FN, VEGF and LDH in the cerebrospinal fluid of the three groups before and after treatment were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the differential diagnostic values of FN, VEGF and LDH for BM and VE, the correlation of the three indicators were analyzed by Pearson coefficient.

  Results  Before treatment, the levels of FN, VEGF and LDH in the BM group were significantly higher than those in the control group and the VE group, and the level of FN in the VE group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). After treatment, the levels of FN, VEGF and LDH in the BM group were significantly decreased, and the levels of FN and LDH in the VE group were significantly decreased (P < 0.05). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of FN, VEGF and LDH in differential diagnosis of the BM group and the VE group, the BM group and the control group were all more than 0.9, the AUC of FN in differential diagnosis of the VE group and the control group was more than 0.8, but the AUC of VEGF and LDH in differential diagnosis of the VE group and the control group were less than 0.6. There was positive correlations between FN, VEGF and LDH in the BM group, and a positive correlation between VEGF and LDH in the VE group, while there was no correlation between FN, VEGF and LDH in the control group.

  Conclusion  Detection the levels of FN, VEGF and LDH in cerebrospinal fluid has certain clinical value in the differential diagnosis of BM, VE and non-CNS infections.