In this study investigating 69 potentially-useful host biomarkers for childhood TBM (23 children with TBM and 24 controls) comprising a combination of cytokines and soluble mediators in CSF (cathelicidin LL-37 by using an ELISA kit purchased from Elabscience Biotechnology Inc. (catalog #E-EL-H2438) and the rest by Luminex assay), 28 proteins including IFN-γ, TNF-α, MPO, MMP-8, MMP-9, MIP-4 and CXCL9 amongst others, when analysed individually, showed areas under the receiver-operating curve (AUC) ≥0.80. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is meningeal tuberculosis.