Diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) mean for the human organism a potentially dangerous situation. An investigation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) provides important information about a character of CNS impairment in the decision-making diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm. The authors present a brief overview of available cerebrospinal fluid assays, shortened indication criteria, a recommended algorithm of CSF assessment in different suspected diseases, and a view of the external quality system. The whole portfolio of obtainable CSF methodology is further subdivided according to the adequate choice into the first and inevitable basic routine panel, and following complicated analyses of highly specialized character. The basic panel is considered for standard laboratories, the complete specialized assessment should be provided by a super-consulting laboratory.

• MeSH
• Algorithms MeSH
• Cytological Techniques MeSH
• Clinical Laboratory Techniques MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Macrophages MeSH
• Cerebrospinal Fluid chemistry   cytology   MeSH
• Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins analysis   MeSH
• Practice Guidelines as Topic * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Review MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Cerebrospinal Fluid Proteins MeSH

We endeavored to develop a method for viability determination of solventogenic clostridia and to apply it for monitoring acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. Six fluorescent probes (propidium iodide [PI], ethidium bromide, fluorescein diacetate, carboxyfluorescein diacetate [cFDA], rhodamine 123, bis-(1,3-dibutylbarbituric acid)trimethine oxonol [BOX]) were tested in order to distinguish two subpopulations of live and dead clostridial cells in suspension. Three of them were found to be appropriate (PI, BOX and cFDA) for this purpose. Developed fluorescent staining methods were applied to batch fermentation processes of Clostridium pasteurianum and C. beijerinckii carried out in a laboratory bioreactor under anaerobic conditions. Whereas PI was found to be applicable to both strains, BOX was convenient only for viability determination of C. pasteurianum. Although cFDA can distinguish two cell subpopulations in suspension, it was found to be unsuitable for viability determination under tested conditions, since it reflected more variable esterase activity during sporulation cell cycle than viability. Flow cytometry in combination with convenient fluorescent probe has been proved to be a valuable tool for viability determination. We assume this rapid and simple method can help to obtain more complex and precise information about ABE fermentation.

• MeSH
• Acetone metabolism   MeSH
• Staining and Labeling MeSH
• Butanols metabolism   MeSH
• Clostridium chemistry   growth & development   metabolism   MeSH
• Ethanol metabolism   MeSH
• Fermentation MeSH
• Fluorescent Dyes chemistry   metabolism   MeSH
• Microbial Viability * MeSH
• Flow Cytometry methods   MeSH
• Solvents metabolism   MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Evaluation Study MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Acetone MeSH
• Butanols MeSH
• Ethanol MeSH
• Fluorescent Dyes MeSH
• Solvents MeSH

A routine diagnostic procedure of cryptococcal meningitis using Alcian Blue and Nuclear Fast Red staining is described in a group of 16 patients. Cerebrospinal fluid findings, including clinical cytology, routine biochemistry and protein fractions, are presented.

• MeSH
• Staining and Labeling methods   MeSH
• Cryptococcus neoformans isolation & purification   MeSH
• Meningitis, Cryptococcal diagnosis   microbiology   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Microbiological Techniques methods   MeSH
• Microscopy methods   MeSH
• Cerebrospinal Fluid microbiology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

A very rare clinical entity, so-called eosinophilic meningitis, classified by prevalence of eosinophils in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), with the presence of pleiocytosis, has been recorded in our laboratory four times only in the last 24 years. A low glucose level, elevation of total protein and lactic acid in CSF were detected in all the clinical cases. The last two cases were made possible by using flow cytometry method; surprisingly, the presence was found in mature T-cells in CSF, predominantly helpers (CD3+, CD4+) and, practically, none is B-cells (CD19+), plasma cells (CD138+) and NK-cells.

• MeSH
• Eosinophils immunology   MeSH
• Glucose cerebrospinal fluid   MeSH
• Blood Proteins cerebrospinal fluid   MeSH
• Lactic Acid cerebrospinal fluid   MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Meningitis cerebrospinal fluid   diagnosis   immunology   MeSH
• Leukocyte Count MeSH
• Flow Cytometry MeSH
• T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer immunology   MeSH
• T-Lymphocytes immunology   MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Case Reports MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Glucose MeSH
• Blood Proteins MeSH
• Lactic Acid MeSH

The levels of prealbumin (PAB, transthyretin) were determined and evaluated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum in various subgroups of the multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. In severely disabled patients, serum PAB was elevated more frequently. CSF and serum PAB concentrations were higher in treated than in nontreated patients; the values above the upper reference limits were also more frequently found in treated patients. PAB index showed a tendency to decrease during the course of the disease. The routine determination of PAB in CSF and serum is, therefore, recommended to be recognized in MS patients as a substantial clinical value and, thus, be comprised, including also immunoglobulins and other parameters, into the spectrum of characteristics in Protein Panel.

• MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Prealbumin analysis   cerebrospinal fluid   MeSH
• Multiple Sclerosis blood   cerebrospinal fluid   pathology   MeSH
• Severity of Illness Index MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Comparative Study MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Prealbumin MeSH