Mansour, A: Cytokines in Tuberculous Meningitis

Tuberculous meningitis is one of the serious diseases that affects all ages in developing countries endemic with tuberculosis. Host immunity plays a pivotal role in fighting the disease and determining its outcome. Cytokines are one of the host immunity tools to achieve the defense mission against the invading tuberculous bacilli. Cytokines are detected in various concentrations during the progress of the disease. Granuloma formation in the brain is also one of the characteristics of tuberculous meningitis that helps in surrounding the tuberculous bacilli to prevent its spread, but on the other hand may have unfavorable consequences. This book describes a study on tuberculous meningitis cases before treatment and after one and six months of treatment. The study demonstrates different types of cytokines during the diseases stages on admission to hospital and during treatment and follow up visits. It also describes the natural history of granuloma formation during various stages of the disease. Finally, the study tried to find the correlation between different types of cytokines and tuberculous granuloma development as well as the disease outcome.