We measured levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines in the cerebrospinal fluid 
(CSF) of patients with mumps meningitis, enteroviral echovirus 30 meningitis and 
children without central nervous system infection to investigate whether these 
molecules were involved in the pathogenesis of viral meningitis. The CSF was 
obtained from 62 children suspected with meningitis. These patients were 
classified to the mumps meningitis (n = 19), echovirus 30 meningitis (n = 22) 
and non-meningitis (n = 21) groups. The concentrations of interleukin-1 (IL-1), 
interleukin-1 soluble receptor type 2 (IL-1R2), interleukin-8 (IL-8), human 
interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and human tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were 
determined by immunoassay. A significant increase was noted in the levels of 
IL-8, TNF-α and IL-1R2 in the CSF of both meningitis groups as compared to 
controls. The concentrations of IFN-γ and IL-1 differed significantly only 
between the mumps group and control. The levels of IL-1, IFN-γ and TNF-α were 
significantly higher in mumps meningitis when compared to the echovirus 30 
group. Of all cytokines examined, only IFN-γ correlated with pleocytosis (r = 
0.58) in the mumps meningitis group. The increased CSF cytokine levels are 
markers of meningeal inflammation, and each virus may cause a specific profile 
of the cytokine pattern.