Effect of low-dose methylprednisolone on serum TNF-α level in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of low-dose methylprednisolone on serum tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) level in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A case-control study was conducted among 38 children with MPP who received treatment in the Affiliated Hospital of Yan'an University between January and December 2012, and who had not received glucocorticoids before hospitalization. They were randomly divided into methylprednisolone treatment (n=20) and conventional treatment groups (n=18). The methylprednisolone treatment group was administered with methylprednisolone (1 mg/kg·d) by intravenous drip for three days in addition to conventional treatment. Serum samples were collected from both groups before treatment and on days 4 and 7 of treatment. Twenty-five children who underwent physical examination in the healthcare clinic during the same period were randomly selected as a normal control group, and serum samples were collected on the same day that the physical examination was performed. Serum TNF-α levels in the three groups were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>On admission, the methylprednisolone treatment and conventional treatment groups had significantly higher serum TNF-α levels than the normal control group (P<0.01), but there was no significant difference between the methylprednisolone treatment and conventional treatment groups. On days 4 and 7 of treatment, the methylprednisolone treatment group had significantly lower serum TNF-α levels than the conventional treatment group (P<0.05; P<0.01). On day 7 of treatment, there was no significant difference in serum TNF-α level between the methylprednisolone treatment and normal control groups, but the conventional treatment group still had a significantly higher serum TNF-α level than the normal control group (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Low-dose methylprednisolone can significantly decrease serum TNF-α level and inhibit inflammatory response in children with MPP, and may reduce damage caused by inflammatory response.</p>

Clinical Analysis of Extra-pulmonary Complications in 118 Cases with Mycoplasm Pneumoniae Infection / 实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To analyze the clinical features,curative effect and prognosis of extra-pulmonary infections by mycoplasma pneumoniae(MP).Methods ELISA was used to detect anti-MP IgM and IgG.Case histories of 226 patients,whose nasopharyneal lotione and respiratory secretions were positive of virus and bacteria respectively,was analysed retrospectively.Results One hundred and eighteen of the 226 (52.2%) cases suffered from extra-pulmonary infection.Of these infections 38.98%,33.89%,21.11% and 17.79% were found in digestive, urinary, cardiovascular systems and serous membrane respectively.All of the cases were improved after treatment with macrolides antibiotics.All cases were MP IgM positive,35.5% cases were IgG positive.Spatum MP positive rate was 32.2%.Positive rate of cold-agglutination test was 47.46%.Conclusions MP infection may cause many extra-pulmonary complications.When multi-organ infections can not be explained with bacterial and viral infections,MP infection should be considered.