RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: As a cytokine highly expressed in internal organs, visfatin could be used as a biomarker of systemic inflammation response for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases, but few studies have reported the use of visfatin in severe pneumonia. The present study was undertaken to determine the plasma levels of visfatin in patients with severe pneumonia. METHODS: A total of 70 patients, including 40 patients with severe pneumonia (group A) and 30 patients with non severe pneumonia (group B) who had been admitted to the ICU from June 2009 to June 2010, were enrolled in this prospective study. And another 30 healthy physical examinees served as healthy controls (group C). Patients were excluded if they suffered from severe diseases of the heart, brain and kidney, cancers, autoimmune diseases, or received special treatment in the latest month. The plasma levels of visfatin, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α were measured by ELISA, while the level of CRP was determined by immuneturbidimetry, and the routine blood test was performed. Blood gas analysis and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) were performed in patients with pneumonia. Comparisons between the groups were conducted by Student's t test, ANOVA or nonparametric test. Correlation analysis was carried out by Pearson's correlation test or Spearman's rank-order correlation test. RESULTS: The plasma level of visfatin in group A was significantly higher than that in groups B and C (P<0.001), and the level of visfatin in group B was significantly higher than that in group C (P<0.001). The plasma level of visfatin was positively correlated with CRP, TNF-α, APACHE II and PMN％ in patients with severe pneumonia (rho=0.653, r=0.554, r=0.558, r=0.484, respectively, P<0.05 for all), while it was negatively correlated with PaO2 and PaO2/FiO2 (rho=?0.422, r=?0.543, respectively, P<0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: Visfatin may be involved in the systematic inflammation response in patients with severe pneumonia as a pro-inflammatory cytokine, and it is valuable in assessing the severity of pneumonia..
RESUMEN
Objective To discuss the value of Visfatin in severity evaluation in patients with severe pneumonia via observation on the variations of the plasma level of Visfatin. Method Seventy subjects including 40 patients with severe pneumonia ( group A) and 30 patients with non-severe pneumonia (group B) admitted to the ICU of emergency department and general wards from June 2009 to June 2010, were enrolled in this prospective study, and another 30 healthy individuals from physical examinees were included as subjects in control group (group C). Patients with severe diseases of heart, brain and kidney, cancers, autoimmune disease, or under special treatment in latest one month were excluded. For the subjects of all three groups, the plasma levels of Visfatin, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α were measured by using ELISA, while the level of CRP was assayed by using immunoturbidimetry, and the routine blood test was performed as well. The blood gas analysis and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation Ⅱ ( APACHE Ⅱ) were carried out in patients with pneumonia. Comparisons between groups were made by t-tests, ANOVA or nonparametric test. Correlation analysis was carried out by Pearson correlation coefficient or Spearman rank correlation test. Results The plasma level of Visfatin in patients with severe pneumonia (group A) was significantly higher than that in patients with non-severe pneumonia (group B) and in the control subjects (group C) (P < 0. 01) , and the level of Visfatin in pneumonia ( group B) and in control group (group C) , and that in group B was significantly higher than that in the controls (group C) (P <0. 01). In group A, the plasma level of Visfatin was positively correlated with CRP, TNF-α, APACHE Ⅱ and PMN% (rha =0. 653, r = 0.554, r = 0.558, r= 0.484, P <0. 05), while negatively correlated with PaO2 and PaO2/FiO2 ( rha = -0.422, r= -0.543, P <0. 05). Conclusions Visfatin may be involved in the systemic inflammation response in severe pneumonia as a pro-inflammatory cytokine which is valuable in assessing the severity of pneumonia.