Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0085437 (bacterial meningitis)
 4,038 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The NBT-Test which is applied now in the differential diagnosis of viral and bacterial diseases was performed in 6 children sufferring from encephalitis. The modified technique described by Kim et al. was used. According to other reports dealing with NBT-Test in viral diseases all our patients showed normal percentages of NBT-positive cells. On the other hand a few authors report "false positive" NBT-tests in viral diseases. Therefore various factors, like stage and duration of the disease, damage of the phagocytes by toxins, influence of antibiotics, are discussed. Because of the occurrence of negative results in the early stages of bacterial meningitis the NBT-test in its present technique should not be used in differentiating bacterial meningitis from viral encephalitis.
 ...
PMID:[Nitroblue tetrazolium-test and encephalitis (author's transl)]. 119 52

The reaction of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) granulocytes in the nitroblue-tetrazolium test (NBT test) was evaluated. In a previous study, methodological problems were resolved, and the method developed by Park et al, was modified to suit the special conditions of the CSF. Thirty-eight CSF specimens from 26 patients were analysed. It appears that NBT test results with CSF granulocytes are significantly positive--according to the criteria developed by Park for blood granulocytes--when bacterial meningitis is present. If the cause of the pleocytosis is not bacterial in nature, then the test results are negative in most cases, provided that the CSF sample contains little or no blood. The NBT test in bloody CSF may produce positive results no matter what the cause of the pleocytosis. Our results suggest that the NBT test is a general, non-specific indicator of granulocyte stimulation. It reflects the ability of granulocytes to react to a stress situation of the organism. Bacterial infection results in a conspicuously large number of stimulated (i.e. NBT positive) granulocytes.
 ...
PMID:The Significance of the nitroblue-tetrazolium test in cerebrospinal fluid granulocytes in bacterial and abacterial meningitis. 702 31

Using the method of Park et al. the author studied spontaneous and stimulated NBT reduction by neutrophil granulocytes in the cerebrospinal fluid and blood, and by monocytic-reticular cells in the cerebrospinal fluid of the patients with bacterial and viral meningitis and meningismus. The author performed 333 investigations in 74 patients. Significantly higher mean values of the index of spontaneous and stimulated NBT reduction by the granulocytes and cerebrospinal fluid were observed in cases of bacterial meningitis as compared with the granulocytes of the peripheral blood in healthy subjects. It was demonstrated that in patients with bacterial meningitis blood and fluid granulocytes showed a similar phagocytic acitivty independent of the humoral environment. In the patients with bacterial and viral meningitis the monocytic-reticular cells the cerebrospinal fluid showed a similar, sometimes high, phagocytic activity depending on the phase and severity of the disease. On the otherhand, in most cases of meningismus these cells failed to manifest any phagocytic and bactericidal activity. In only few isolated cells in the fluid weak NBT reduction was observed. The obtained results of investigations showed the usefulness of the NBT test not only for the differential diagnosis of the aetiology of neuroinfections but also for the assessment of immune processes taking place in the nervous system.
 ...
PMID:[Nitroblue tetrazolium reduction by the neutrophils of the cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral blood and by the monocytic-reticular cells of the cerebrospinal fluid in neuroinfections]. 741 90