Acute phase proteins in serum and cerebrospinal fluid in the course of bacterial meningitis

We carried out estimations of the following acute phase proteins: C-reactive protein (CRP), alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAT), alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AAG), alpha-2-ceruloplasmin (CER), and alpha-2-haptoglobin (HPT) in serum and in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in patients with bacterial meningitis (BM, n = 30) and viral meningitis (VM, n = 30). We have shown that determinations of concentrations of AAG and CRP in serum and CER in CSF are useful in differentiation between BM and VM. The diagnostic power of these three tests (the areas under their ROC curves equal 0.942, 0.929, and 0.931, respectively) is bigger, though statistically not significantly, than that of traditional parameters of BM in CSF, i.e., total protein concentration and white blood cell count. Determination of AAG, CRP, and AAT in serum is a valuable monitoring marker in the course of BM treatment. Convenience of serum sampling constitutes an advantage over traditional BM parameters in CSF.