Study on correlation between peripheral blood cytokines and community-acquired pneumonia severity and pathogen

Objective To investigate the relationship between peripheral blood cytokine concentration and severity of disease and pathogen in patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Methods Eighty-five CAP patients (30 with severe CAP, 55 with non-severe CAP)and 10 healthy controls were enrolled from multicentre in China.The concentration of interleukin-1 receptor antagonists (IL-1Ra), IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), IFN-γ inducible protein-10 (IP-10) and monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) were detected by suspension chip tests. Results The peripheral blood concentration of IL-6 (χ2=14.87, P<0.05) and IP-10 (χ2=4.93, P<0.05) in the patients with CAP were significantly higher than those in the control group.IL-12 (χ2=5.25, P<0.05) were lower than that in the control group.IL-1Ra, IL-6, IL-10, IL-12, G-CSF, IFN-γ, IP-10 and MCP-1 in the severe group were significantly higher than those in the non-severe group (χ2=24.71, 25.68, 31.83, 7.61, 19.53, 12.66, 16.75, 23.49, all P<0.05). The concentration of IL-10 in virus group was significantly higher than that in atypical (χ2=7.18, P<0.05) group. Conclusions The concentration of peripheral blood cytokines can be used to determine the severity of CAP and may help distinguish pathogens. Key words: Community-acquired pneumonia; Cytokines; Severity; Pathogen