THALIDOMIDE INHIBITS TUMOR-NECROSIS-FACTOR-ALPHA PRODUCTION BY LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE-STIMULATED AND LIPOARABINOMANNAN-STIMULATED HUMAN MICROGLIAL CELLS

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is a pathogenic factor in bact erial meningitis, The effect of thalidomide on TNF-alpha production by microglia, the resident macrophages of the brain, was evaluated. In p rimary human fetal microglial cell cultures stimulated with lipopolysa ccharide or lipoarabinomannan, thalidomide inhibited TNF-alpha release in a dose-dependent manner, The inhibitory effect of thalidomide was similar to that of dexamethasone, although expression of TNF-alpha mRN A in microglial cells was reduced only by thalidomide. The results of this in vitro study suggest that thalidomide could have therapeutic po tential in gram-negative bacterial and tuberculous meningitis.