Cerebrospinal fluid eotaxin and eotaxin-2 levels in human eosinophilic meningitis associated with angiostrongyliasis

Abstract

Eosinophilic meningitis associated angiostrongyliasis (EOMA) is a harmful disease of the brain and spinal cord caused by a parasitic helminth, Angiostrongylus cantonensis, presenting with severe headaches and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) eosinophilia. However, the immunologic pathophysiology especially in relation to the eosinophilic inflammation is still unknown. We measured the CSF concentrations of eotaxin and eotaxin-2 of 30 patients and 10 controls. The CSF eotaxin and eotaxin-2 levels of the EOMA patients were significantly higher than those of the controls ( p < 0.001). The positive detection values were 83.3% (25/30) and 93.3% (28/30) for eotaxin and eotaxin-2, respectively. CSF eotaxin-2 levels also correlated with CSF eosinophilia ( p = 0.002). These results might indicate that the recruitment of eosinophils to the brain and spinal cord in EOMA patients could be related to elevated eotaxin-2 levels.