Measurement of glutamine and glutamate by capillary electrophoresis and laser induced fluorescence detection in cerebrospinal fluid of meningitis sick children.

OBJECTIVES: Cerebrospinal fluid glutamine and glutamate concentrations were measured by CZE-LIFD in normal and meningitis sick children. DESIGN AND METHODS: A derivatization procedure for glutamine was optimized using CZE-LIFD. Cytochemical and bacteriological analysis were made to 152 CSF from children suspicious of suffering meningitis.
RESULTS: CSF-glutamine concentration was lower in children with viral and bacterial meningitis. In addition, the group infected with Haemophilus influenzae had the lowest concentrations. By contrast, glutamate concentration was higher in children with meningitis. Glutamine concentration increased as the clinical condition of the patient improved.
CONCLUSIONS: Lower concentrations of glutamine in children with bacterial meningitis might be due to the use of this amino acid for bacterial growth while higher concentrations of glutamate might be due to cell destruction. The results indicate that CZE-LIFD is an alternative tool for the determination of amino acids in CSF.