Key Words

Transforming growth factor- (TGF- ) controls pro-liferation, differentiation, and the function of many types of cells. By these activities, TGF- plays a pivotal role in development, tissue homeostasis and tumor formation. The multiple actions of TGF- also influence the func-tion of the innate and acquired immune system. In this brief review, we describe the functional role of TGF- in bacterial meningitis. Bacterial Meningitis At present, approximately 1.2 million cases of bacte-rial meningitis are estimated to occur annually world-wide resulting in 135,000 deaths. Bacterial meningitis is now a top 10 infectious cause of death worldwide and about half of the survivors have neurological sequelae of the disease. Despite antimicrobial agents and intensive care medicine, mortality and morbidity have remained high. With the introduction of Haemophilus influenzae conjugate vaccines in the United States and Western Eu-rope, Streptococcus pneumoniae and Neisseria meningit-ides have become the major causes of bacterial meningitis in these regions. The mortality rate associated with pneu-mococcal meningitis is about 20–35 % [1] versus 15–30