TNF and infectious meningitis: As expected, in the PFC, we observed increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL1-α, IL1-β, IL-6, IL-17, TNF-α, and INF-γ (P < 0.05) and decreased levels of IL-7, IL-10, and IL-13 (P < 0.05) in the 24-h meningitis group (Table 1).