Elevated cerebrospinal fluid cytokine levels in tuberculous meningitis predict survival in response to dexamethasone

ABSTRACT Adjunctive treatment with anti-inflammatory corticosteroids like dexamethasone increases survival in tuberculosis meningitis. Dexamethasone responsiveness associates with a C/T variant in Leukotriene A4 Hydrolase (LTA4H ), which regulates expression of the pro-inflammatory mediator leukotriene B4 (LTB4). TT homozygotes, with increased LTB4, have the highest survival when treated with dexamethasone and the lowest survival without. While the T allele is present in only a minority of the world’s population, corticosteroids confer modest survival benefit worldwide. Using Bayesian methods, we examined how pre-treatment levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pro-inflammatory cytokines affect survival in dexamethasone-treated tuberculous meningitis. LTA4H TT homozygosity was associated with global cytokine increases, including TNF. Association between higher cytokine levels and survival extended to non-TT patients, suggesting that other genetic variants may also induce dexamethasone-responsive pathological inflammation. These findings warrant studies that tailor dexamethasone therapy to pre-treatment CSF cytokine concentrations, while searching for additional genetic loci shaping the inflammatory milieu.