ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the levels of serum surfactant protein D (SP-D) and mannosebinding lectin (MBL) in infants with cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonia with the severity of disease.Methods A total of 101 hospitalized infants with CMV pneumonia were enrolled from January 2011 to December 2012.These patients were divided as the severe pneumonia group (n =48) and the mild pneumonia group (n =53) according to physical sign of lung and complication.Another 55 infants who were hospitalized in the same period with non-infectious diseases were used as the control group.Serum levels of SP-D and MBL were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Blood gas analyzer was used to measure arterial partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) of the blood in severe patients.Results The mean serum SP-D levels in the severe pneumonia group [(150.08 ±52.59)ng/ml] and the mild pneumonia group [(109.67 ±31.39)ng/ml] were significantly higher than those in control group [(41.33 ± 16.42) ng/ml] (P < 0.01), and higher in the severe pneumonia group than in the mild pneumonia group (P < 0.01).However, there was no significant difference in serum MBL between all groups (P > 0.05).In severe patients, serum SP-D levels were negatively correlated with PaO2 (r =-0.565, P < 0.01).Conclusion Serum SP-D is associated with the severity of CMV pneumonia, but MBL shows no relation.The serum SP-D levels has an important clinical significance in judgment the sererity of infants with CMV pneumonia.