Increased Growth Factors in Children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae Pneumonia / 소아알레르기및호흡기학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common causative agent of community acquired pneumonia in children and is well known to cause various respiratory and extrapulmonary diseases. We determined whether growth factors, including transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta1 and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB) that regulate airway fibrosis and remodeling, are increased in young children with M. pneumoniae pneumonia and also investigated if there was any difference in relation to the clinical status of the patients. METHODS: Fifty-two patients (3 to 6 years of age) who were admitted with M. pneumoniae pneumonia were enrolled and divided into 2 groups: the patients with frequent wheezing episodes (group A, n=28) and the patients with no previous history of wheeze (group B, n=24). The former group included the patients who had recurrent wheeze more than 3 times before admission. Fifteen children admitted with minor surgical problems were also studied as controls. TGF-beta1 and PDGF-BB were measured in the plasma samples collected on admission using ELISA in both patient groups and controls. RESULTS: Plasma TGF-beta1 and PDGF-BB levels were increased significantly in the patients with M. pneumoniae pneumonia as compared to the controls (P<0.01, respectively). TGF-beta1 and PDGF-BB were higher in group A than in group B, but the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.08 vs. P=0.05). In group A, TGF-beta1 was significantly higher in atopic patients than in non-atopic patients (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Our study showed significantly increased TGF-beta1 and PDGF-BB in patients with M. pneumoniae pneumonia. It is suggested that these growth factors may play an important role in the pathogenesis of lower airway infection by M. pneumoniae.