Concentration of soluble form of hepatocyte growth factor receptor in cerebrospinal fluid and serum of patients with bacterial and viral meningitis

C-Met is a proto-oncogene that encodes a protein known as hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR). The HGF receptor possesses tyrosine -kinase activity and it is essential for embryonic development, wound healing and cancer. Many proteins are proteolytically released from the surface by a process known as ectodomain shedding. Shedding occurs under normal physiologic conditions and can be increased in certain pathologies. C-Met can be seen among many receptors for which ectodomain shedding has been shown. The aim of this study was to determine the concentration of soluble c-Met in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples of patients with viral and bacterial meningitis. in this study, 75 CSF and serum samples of patients with bacterial meningitis, 71 with viral meningitis and 82 normal controls were investigated. The soluble c-Met concentration was determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). the amount of soluble c-met in CSF of patients with bacterial meningitis (83.91±5.50), viral meningitis (80.41±4.71) and control group (22.66±3.39) are compared with that in serum of patients with bacterial meningitis (561.58±25.87), viral meningitis (550.50 ±34.34) and control group (256.25±18.55). There is significant increase in the CSF and serum’s soluble c-Met expression in the patients with meningitis, in comparison with control group. The data presented here indicate that soluble c-Met is a constant component of human serum and CSF, but it can not be used for differentiating bacterial meningitis from viral meningitis.