Abstract:Objective To investigate the cytological features of cerebrospinal fluid in tuberculous meningitis (TBM) and herpes viral meningoencephalitis (HVME).Methods A total of 28 patients with TBM and 27 with HVME were enrolled, and next-generation sequencing was used for cytological examination and dynamic observation of cerebrospinal fluid.Results Compared with the HVME group, the TBM group had a significantly higher proportion of neutrophils and a significantly lower proportion of small lymphocytes in cerebrospinal fluid (P<0.01). Among the patients in the HVME group, 6 (22.22%) were found to have phagocytic cells containing red blood cells and/or hemosiderin and 2 were found to have intracellular inclusion bodies, which were not found in the TBM group. Dynamic observation of cerebrospinal fluid cytology showed that compared with the HVME group, the TBM group had lower rates of reductions in leukocyte count and the proportion of neutrophils and a lower rate of increase in the proportion of small lymphocytes, with fluctuations.Conclusions TBM and HVME have different types of cell reaction in cerebrospinal fluid, with mixed cell reaction in TBM and mainly lymphocyte reaction in HVME. HVME is more likely to cause hemorrhage than TBM, and intracellular inclusion bodies are often observed in HVME. Dynamic observation of cerebrospinal fluid cytology has important clinical significance and can provide objective indices for disease monitoring, therapeutic effect evaluation, and prognosis evaluation.