Changes to surfactant proteins in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum of children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia / 中国当代儿科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the changes to surfactant proteins in the serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) of children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) and their significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Self-control method was used in the study. Forty-seven MPP children were divided into single lung infected (n=32) and bilateral lung infected groups (n=15) according to lung CT results. Surfactant proteins SP-A, B, C and D were measured using ELISA in the serum and BALF in the two groups. The correlations between SP-A, B, C and D content in the serum and BALF were evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>SP-A, B, C and D content in BALF from the majorly infected or infected lung were significantly higher than from the opposite lung and serum (P<0.01). SP-A, B and C content in serum was significantly lower than in BALF from the non-infected lung in the single-side infected lung group (P<0.01 or 0.05), but there was no significant difference between serum SP-D content and BALF SP-D content from the non-infected lung. There were no significant differences in SP-A, B, C and D content in serum and BALF from the minorly infected lung in the bilateral lung infected group. Serum SP-D content was positively correlated with BALF SP-D content from the majorly infected lung in the bilateral lung infected group (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Serum SP-D content may serve as a biomarker for evaluating the severity of pulmonary infection in children with community-acquired pneumonia.</p>