Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Feb;26(1):e3807.
doi: 10.5812/ijp.3807. Epub 2016 Jan 30.

Th1/Th2 Cytokine Profile and Its Diagnostic Value in Mycoplasma pneumoniae Pneumonia

Wei Li  1 , Yu-Jie Liu  1 , Xiao-le Zhao  1 , Shi-Qiang Shang  1 , Lang Wu  2 , Qing Ye  1 , Hui Xu  1
Affiliations

Th1/Th2 Cytokine Profile and Its Diagnostic Value in Mycoplasma pneumoniae Pneumonia

Wei Li et al. Iran J Pediatr. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Background: The levels of Th1/Th2 cytokine can alter in pathogenic infection in children with pneumonia.

Objectives: To evaluate Th1/Th2 cytokine profile and its diagnostic value in M. pneumoniae pneumonia in children.

Patients and methods: Children with M. pneumoniae mono-infection and 30 healthy children were tested with cytokines assay. We used real time PCR to detect M. pneumoniae in children with pneumonia.

Results: M. pneumoniae test was positive in 2188 (16.62%) out of 13161 pneumonia children. Children aged 5 - 9 years had the highest rate and summer was a season with high rate of M. pneumoniae incidence in Zhejiang province. During the course of study, in 526 pneumonia children with M. pneumoniae mono-infection and 30 healthy children cytokines assay was performed. IL-2 level of M. pneumoniae pneumonia children was lower than that of healthy children (median levels, pg/mL: IL-2: 3.2 vs. 5.7, P = 0.00), while IL-4, IL-10 and IFN-γ were higher than in healthy children (median levels, pg/mL: IL-4: 3.2 vs. 1.5, P = 0.00; IL-10: 5.6 vs. 2.5, P = 0.001; IFN-γ: 20.4 vs. 4.8, P = 0.001).

Conclusions: IL-2 decreases and IL-4, IL-10 and IFN-γ increase in children with M. pneumoniae pneumonia, which has a promising prospect in diagnosis of this disease in clinical practice.

Keywords: Children; Cytokines; M. pneumoniae; Pneumonia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Age Distribution of M. Pneumoniae Pneumonia in Children Younger Than 14 Years
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Monthly Distribution of M. Pneumoniae Pneumonia in Children Younger Than 14 Years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Diaz MH, Benitez AJ, Winchell JM. Investigations of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in the United States: trends in molecular typing and macrolide resistance from 2006 to 2013. J Clin Microbiol. 2015;53(1):124–30. doi: 10.1128/JCM.02597-14. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Gotoh K, Nishimura N, Takeuchi S, Hattori F, Horiba K, Isaji M, et al. Assessment of the loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for rapid diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae in pediatric community-acquired pneumonia. Jpn J Infect Dis. 2013;66(6):539–42. - PubMed
    1. Xue G, Wang Q, Yan C, Jeoffreys N, Wang L, Li S, et al. Molecular characterizations of PCR-positive Mycoplasma pneumoniae specimens collected from Australia and China. J Clin Microbiol. 2014;52(5):1478–82. doi: 10.1128/JCM.03366-13. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Xu YC, Zhu LJ, Xu D, Tao XF, Li SX, Tang LF, et al. Epidemiological characteristics and meteorological factors of childhood Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in Hangzhou. World J Pediatr. 2011;7(3):240–4. doi: 10.1007/s12519-011-0318-0. - DOI - PubMed
    1. He XY, Wang XB, Zhang R, Yuan ZJ, Tan JJ, Peng B, et al. Investigation of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in pediatric population from 12,025 cases with respiratory infection. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis. 2013;75(1):22–7. doi: 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2012.08.027. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources