Abstract: Objective To analyze the cell count of cerebrospinal fluid in tuberculous meningitis(TBM)and explore the association of test positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis by real time fluorescent quantitative PCR(FQ-PCR)and cell count.Methods The study selected 81 patients with tuberculous meningitis.Cerebrospinal fluid cell was counted by automatic blood-body fluid cytoanalyzer,cell smears of cerebrospinal fluid were made by centrifugal machine and cells were classified by image analysis system of optical microscope.Mycobacterium tuberculosis in cerebrospinal fluid was detected by FQ-PCR and its correlation with cell count was analyzed. Results The positive rate of M.tuberculosis DNA(TB-DNA)by FQ-PCR method was 50.6%(41/81).The leukocyte count of FQ-PCR positive group was higher than that of the negative group(P <0.05).The leukocyte number was positively correlated with the copy number of FQ-PCR.The characteristics of cerebrospinal fluid cytology in FQ-PCR positive group indicated that the mixed cellular reaction was dominant,and the lymphocytes ratio was 0.590,while neutrophils ratio was 0.366.Conclusion The cerebrospinal fluid cytology of tuberculous meningitis is mostly lymphocyte reaction,cerebrospinal fluid leukocyte count in combination with PCR can reflect the severity of disease and has certain significance for the early diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis.

Key words: tuberculosis, meningeal, leukocytosis, real-time polymerase chain reaction