EDA-containing fibronectin levels in the cerebrospinal fluid of children with meningitis.

Fibronectin containing an alternatively spliced extra domain A (EDA-FN) participates in diverse biological cell functions, being also directly or indirectly engaged during an inflammatory response to brain injury and/or neuron regeneration. We analyzed FN and EDA-FN isoform levels by ELISA in 85 cerebrospinal fluid samples and 67 plasma samples obtained from children suffering from bacterial or viral meningitis and non-meningitis peripheral inflammation. We have found that the cerebrospinal level of EDA-FN was significantly lower in the bacterial meningitis group than in the viral- and non-meningitis groups. In the patients' plasma, EDA-FN was almost undetectable. The determination of fibronectin containing the EDA segment might be considered as an additional diagnostic marker of bacterial meningitis in children.