文本框: A STUDY ON THE CHANGES OF NITRIC OXIDE IN CHILDREN WITH BACTERIAL MENINGITIS 
GAO F, XIA Z-Z, ZHOU B-L, SHUI Q-X 
Children’s Hospital, Zhejiang University Medical College, Hangzhou, China

Objective: To investigate the changes of nitric oxide (NO) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of children with bacterial meningitis, and the effect of dexamethasone therapy on it. 
Methods: The concentrations of the end product of NO (nitrite) and it’s precursor (L-arginine) in CSF of 23 cases of bacterial meningitis were detected with Griess method and an amino acid analyzer, and 31 children without any neuralgic diseases formed the control groups. 
Results: (1) The CSF nitrite levels of patients with bacterial meningitis before treatment were significantly higher than that of the control group. The concentrations of nitrite in children with bacterial meningitis declined to the normal range after the treatment of antibiotic drug with or without dexamethasone. (2) CSF levels of L-arginine were lower in patients group  than in control group. (3) Among the 23 patients, 14 cases were treated with antibiotic drug only, and the other 9 cases were pulsed dexamethasone. Dexamethasone exerted a significant effect on the end product of nitric oxide.
Conclusion: Enhanced NO production may play a role in the neuropathology of bacterial meningitis, and dexamethasone might inhibit the over production of nitric oxide partly.
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