The Predictive Diagnostic and Prognostic Cut - off Values for Interleukin 8 in Patients with Meningitis in Egypt

Objectives: This work was done to detect the best cut - off values for IL - 8 to diagnose CNS infections (meningitis and meningio - encephalitis), to differentiate septic from aseptic types, and to predict mortality. Methods: A case - control series design was chosen, where 42 patients who were diagnosed clinically as having meningitis and 42 control subjects were subjected for lumbar puncture and their cerebrospinal fluids were examined physically, chemicall y, cytologically, and bacteriologically; besides the level of interleukin 8 (IL - 8) was determined and compared for both groups. Results: T he mean value of IL - 8 was 75.8±89.1 in cases group compared to 26.2±18.0 in the