['To determine whether the intrathecal concentrations of cytokines/chemokines are associated with, or influenced by, serum concentrations in patients with central neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE), and to ascertain whether the increased production of cytokines/chemokines intrathecally relative to serum levels is associated with the presence of central NPSLE.', '52 SLE patients (30 with central NPSLE and 22 with non-NPSLE), for whom the CSF and serum samples were obtained at the same time, were enrolled. 27 kinds of cytokine/chemokine concentrations other than IFN-α in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum samples were measured by Bio-Plex Pro Assays. IFN-α concentration and anti-ribosomal P protein antibody (anti-P) titres in CSF and serum samples were measured by ELISA.', 'The mean concentrations of IL-6, IL-8, IP-10, MCP-1, G-CSF and GM-CSF were higher in the CSF than in the sera, respectively, while the mean concentrations of other 22 cytokines/chemokines, including RANTES and IFN-α, in the CSF were much lower than those in the sera, respectively. Furthermore, the concentrations of IL-6, IL-8, IP-10, MCP-1 and G-CSF in the CSF of the 30 patients with NPSLE were significantly higher than in the 22 patients with non-NPSLE (p\u2009=\u20096.82\u2009×\u200910(-5), p\u2009=\u20090.00037, p\u2009=\u20090.0028, p\u2009=\u20090.00065, and p\u2009=\u20090.0001, respectively), while the concentration of GM-CSF in the CSF of the 30 patients with NPSLE was not significantly higher than in the 22 patients with non-NPSLE. Most importantly, the largest difference occurred in CSF IL-6 concentrations. A significant positive correlation between CSF anti-P titres and serum anti-P titres in 52 patients with SLE (r\u2009=\u20090.6316, p\u2009=\u20096.44\u2009×\u200910(-6)) was found, while no significant positive correlation was observed between CSF levels and serum levels of each cytokine/chemokine in the 52 SLE patients.'] Are iL-6 , IL-8 , IP-10 , MCP-1 and G-CSF significantly increased in cerebrospinal fluid but not in sera of patients with central neuropsychiatric lupus erythematosus?