Compared to samples from patients that had undergone neurosurgery and had other infectious diseases, CSF samples from patients with nosocomial meningitis had significantly higher HGF concentrations (p < 0.0001) and HGF binding affinity to c-Met (p < 0.0001) and HSPG (p = 0.043) receptors. The gene discussed is HGF; the disease is infectious meningitis.