Expression of autophagy-related genes in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with tuberculous meningitis

Abstract

The expression of autophagy-related genes in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and their clinical significance in patients with TBM was investigated. Sixty patients with TBM (observa-tion group) and twenty healthy volunteers during the same period (control group) were selected and the cerebrospinal fluid was collected. The expression levels of p62, Beclin1 and LC3-II genes in cerebrospinal fluid were detected via semi-quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and patients in observation group were divided into high expression and normal or low expression group on the basis of LC3-II expression levels. On the other hand, the contents of inflammatory factors interleukin-6, -10 (IL-6, -10), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were detected using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. The mRNA levels of p62, Beclin1 and LC3-II in cerebrospinal fluid of patients in observation were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.01). TUNEL assay showed that the apoptosis level of cerebro-spinal fluid in high expression was obviously lower than that in normal or low expression group (P<0.01); the content of IL-6 and TNF-α in cerebrospinal fluid in high expression was significantly lower than those in normal or low expression group (P<0.01); the content of IL-10 in cerebrospinal fluid in high expression was obviously higher than that in normal or low expression group (P<0.01). Correlation analysis revealed that LC3-II was positively correlated with IL-10, but negatively correlated with IL-6 and TNF-α. The mRNA levels of p62, Beclin1 and LC3-II in cerebrospinal fluid of patients with TBM are increased, there is a correlation between expression levels of autophagy-related genes and inflammatory factors, and the high expression of autophagy-related genes may have a protective effect on patients with TBM.