Meningitis, the inflammation of the meninges covering the brain and the spinal cord, is the most common infectious disease of the CNS. Infection with bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms is the common underlying cause of meningitis.
Acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) in adults is associated with a mortality that may exceed 30%. If untreated, it may result in serious long-term complications. However, acute viral meningitis (AVM), which often has a better prognosis and does not require antibiotics, is the main differential diagnosis of ABM.
According to WHO guidelines, CSF analysis is essential to establish the diagnosis, distinguish bacterial from non bacterial meningitis, and identify the etiological agent. Unfortunately, to date, no single laboratory test is able to distinguish bacterial meningitis from non-bacterial meningitis with high accuracy; and the most precise combination of clinical features to raise or lower suspicion of meningitis is still indistinct.
Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) is a small protein of 22 kDa involved in iron homeostasis that allows an alternative method of transferrin to deliver iron to the cytoplasm. It allows sequestrating iron by interfering with siderophore-mediated iron acquisition by bacteria. There was a paucity of previous studies suggesting that LCN2 can be used in diagnosing bacterial meningitis.
Here, we studied the efficacy of LCN2 to differentiate between bacterial and non-bacterial meningitis.