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Hepatocyte growth factor can guide treatment of pneumonia in children

Lun Qin Liu1, Zhi Hua Wang2, Hai Yun Yao3

  • 1Department of Inspection, Infectious Diseases Hospital of Jinan, Jinan, Shandong 250021, P.R. China.

Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine
|April 9, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) shows promise in managing pediatric Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MP). Elevated HGF levels can detect severe MP and predict treatment response better than C-reactive protein (CRP).

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Biomarker Research

Background:

  • Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MP) is a common pediatric respiratory infection.
  • Current treatment guidance relies on C-reactive protein (CRP), but its predictive accuracy for treatment outcomes needs improvement.
  • Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a potential biomarker in inflammatory conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of HGF in pediatric MP.
  • To compare HGF's efficacy with CRP in assessing MP severity and azithromycin treatment outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Serum HGF levels were measured using ELISA in 65 pediatric patients with MP, 42 with bacterial pneumonia, and 30 healthy controls.
  • Serum CRP levels were assessed in patients with severe and non-severe MP.
  • Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare the sensitivity and specificity of HGF and CRP.

Main Results:

  • HGF levels were significantly elevated in both MP and bacterial pneumonia patients compared to healthy controls.
  • Severe MP cases exhibited higher HGF levels than non-severe cases.
  • HGF demonstrated superior sensitivity and specificity compared to CRP in predicting azithromycin treatment outcomes for MP.

Conclusions:

  • HGF may serve as a valuable biomarker for identifying severe pediatric MP.
  • HGF shows potential for guiding MP management and predicting the effectiveness of azithromycin therapy.
  • HGF may be a more effective predictive marker for azithromycin treatment response in MP than CRP.

Keywords:
C-reactive proteinMycoplasma pneumoniaehepatocyte growth factorpediatric pneumonia

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