Correlation of the chemiluminescence-activity of peripheral blood monocytes with CSF parameters of inflammation and the clinical course of patients with lymphocytic meningoencephalitis

Abstract
– The chemiluminescence-activity (CL-A) of peripheral blood monocytes (MO) was measured in eight patients with lymphocytic meningitis or meningoencephalitis and compared to CSF parameters and the clinical course. The initial maximum CL-A was around four times above the control and decreased to normal values within approximately 20 days. Poor correlations were found when the CL-A was compared to CSF parameters in the total group of patients. With regard to the CSF parameters in individual patients the CL-A was closely related to the cell count, to a lesser degree to the protein content, but not to the IgG content. Finally, a very good correlation of the CL-A was found with the clinical course in individual patients. This preliminary data suggests the clinical usefulness of CL-measurements and supports the conception that the CL-A predominantly reflects the specific cellular phase of inflammation, which is dominated by T cells.