RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To study whether infantile wheezing pneumonia has similar immune mechanisms to asthma by determining the levels of serum inflammatory factors in wheezing infants with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). METHODS: Forty-two infants with CAP but without wheezing, 47 infants with CAP and wheezing, and 30 healthy infants as a control were recruited in the study. The peripheral blood levels of C-reactive protein, procalcitonin, soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell-l, interferon-γ, interleukin-4, interleukin-10, and periostin were compared in the three groups. RESULTS: The serum levels of procalcitonin, soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cell-l, interleukin-4 and interleukin-10 in the two CAP groups were higher than in the control group (P<0.05). The ratio of interferon-γ/interleukin-4 in the wheezing pneumonia group was lower than in the non-wheezing pneumonia and control groups (P<0.05). The serum level of periostin in the wheezing pneumonia group was higher than in the non-wheezing pneumonia and control groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The unbalanced ratio of interferon-γ/interleukin-4 and airway eosinophilic inflammation in wheezing infants with pneumonia suggest infantile pneumonia with wheezing may has similar immune mechanisms to asthma.