BACKGROUND:   The mumps virus is frequently the causative agent in aseptic 
meningitis and mumps has still prevailed in Japan. We compared data obtained 
from patients with mumps meningitis and patients with aseptic meningitis caused 
by other viruses in order to identify mumps meningitis-specific 
cytokine/chemokine alterations in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
METHODS:   We elucidated the cytokine/chemokine network based on the 
cytokine/chemokine profiles in CSF from children with mumps meningitis and 
meningitis due to other viral infections using multiplex cytokine measurement. 
Seventeen cytokines/chemokines, namely interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, 
IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12 (p70), IL-13, IL-17, interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor 
necrosis factor (TNF)-α, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), 
granulocyte monocyte colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), monocyte 
chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein-1β 
(MIP-1β), were measured simultaneously in CSF supernatants from eight children 
with mumps meningitis, 11 children with other types of viral meningitis and 
eight children with fever without neurological complications such as convulsion.
RESULTS:   We found that IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-13 and IFN-γ showed a 
statistically significant increase in CSF from mumps meningitis when compared to 
other types of viral meningitis and fever without neurological complications.
CONCLUSION:   Mumps meningitis may induce a distinct immunological response when 
compared with other types of viral meningitis.