Objective To explore the expression and clinical significance of pro-inflammatory factors and oxidative stress indicators in young children with purulent meningitis (PM).
Methods Clinical data of 60 children with PM were retrospectively analyzed, and they were divided into normal PM group (36 cases) and severe PM group (24 cases) according to the degree of disease progression. Another 50 children with non-central infectious diseases were selected as control group. The levels of proinflammatory factors tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), macrophagic inflammatory protein-1α (MIP-1α), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) and oxidative stress indexes superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitrogen monoxide (NO) in cerebrospinal fluid of the three groups were compared. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the level of related indicators and the severity of PM children.
Results The IL-6 levels in the severe PM group and normal PM group were significantly higher than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The levels of TNF-α and IL-8 in the severe PM group and the normal PM group were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the severe PM group was significantly higher than that in the normal PM group (P < 0.05). The levels of MDA and NO in the severe PM group and the normal PM group were significantly higher than those in the control group, and the severe PM group was significantly higher than that in the normal PM group (P < 0.05). The SOD levels of the severe PM group and normal PM group were significantly higher than those of the control group (P < 0.05). The severity of PM disease was positively correlated with the levels of TNF-α (r=0.354), IL-8 (r=0.397), MDA (r=0.437) and NO (r=0.456) (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).
Conclusion Disease progression in children with PM is related to the level of proinflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress response. Clinical diagnosis and treatment of PM children can be based on the above indicators.
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