ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the changes of serum nerve growth factor(NGF) and interleukin(IL)-15 levels in children with mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia(MPP) and its clinical significance.Methods Using the antibody sandwich ELISA method to measure the serum NGF and IL-15 levels in 65 cases of MPP (MPP group,which contains two groups:the severe group contains 25 patients and the mild group contains 40 patients) and 50 cases of healthy children (normal control group).Results The serum NGF,IL-15 levels in the acute phase of MPP group were (157.62 ± 33.45) pg/ml and (242.51 ± 60.04) pg/ml,and in the recovery period were (99.58 ±21.29) pg/ml and (145.90 ±50.25) pg/ml,they were all significantly higher than the normal control group [(29.86-± 11.74) pg/ml and (108.86 ± 21.14) pg/ml,P ＜ 0.05].The serum NGF,IL-15 of the acute phase were also higher than the recovery period (P ＜0.05).In the acute phase of MPP,serum NGF,IL-15 levels in the severe group were significantly higher than in the mild group [(204.38±27.52) pg/ml vs (128.39 ±22.07) pg/ml,(288.58 ±55.33) pg/ml vs (213.71 ±42.69) pg/ml],and the differences were statistically significant (P ＜ 0.05) ; in the recovery period of MPP group,the serum NGF,IL-15 levels of severe group were higher than the mild group,but the difference was not statistically significant (P ＞0.05).Conclusion The serum levels of NGF,IL-15 in the mycoplasma pneumoniae infection patients are significantly increased,and they are all decreased as the disease mitigation.It is prompted that NGF and IL-15 participate in the pathogenesis of infection by mycoplasma pneumoniae.