Cerebrospinal fluid concentrations of α‐melanocyte‐stimulating hormone in bacterial and aseptic meningitis

α-Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH) has potent anti-inflammatory effects in several experimental models of inflammation. It inhibits both the actions and production of proinflammatory cytokines and neutrophil migration. We investigated whether α-MSH in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) increases during the acute stage in patients with bacterial and aseptic meningitis by measuring α-MSH in CSF via radioimmunoassay. The α-MSH concentrations in CSF from the children with bacterial meningitis who survived (n= 8), those with aseptic meningitis (n= 16), and the control subjects (n= 23) were all below the detection limit. However, CSF α-MSH was elevated in four of the five children with bacterial meningitis who had neurological sequelae. We speculate that elevated a-MSH levels in CSF during acute bacterial meningitis reflect negative feedback in response to severe inflammation associated with neurological sequelae induced by proinflammatory cytokines. Conclusion: CSF α-MSH is elevated in children with severe bacterial meningitis who had neurological sequelae.