TY - JOUR T1 - Tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) and neurological disorders in HIV infection. JF - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry JO - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry SP - 219 LP - 221 DO - 10.1136/jnnp.55.3.219 VL - 55 IS - 3 AU - C M Mastroianni AU - F Paoletti AU - C Valenti AU - V Vullo AU - E Jirillo AU - S Delia Y1 - 1992/03/01 UR - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/55/3/219.abstract N2 - Tumour necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) concentrations were determined in the CSF from 42 HIV-infected patients, with or without CNS involvement. In addition, 14 subjects with various neurological disorders but without HIV antibodies were included as controls. Raised CSF concentrations of TNF-alpha (greater than 40 ng/l) were detected both in patients with AIDS dementia complex (ADC) (6/9) and with CNS opportunistic infections (10/19) and, less commonly, in HIV infected subjects without CNS diseases (2/14) and in anti-HIV negative controls (1/14). The highest CSF concentrations of TNF-alpha (greater than 100 ng/l), however, were found in seven out of eight patients with cryptococcal meningitis. Although a role for TNF-alpha in demyelinating lesions associated with ADC has been suggested, our results indicate that a clear elevation of TNF-alpha in the CSF from HIV positive patients mostly occurs in acute inflammatory disorders, such as cryptococcal meningitis. ER -