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Plasma TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 Function as Inflammatory Indicators of Severe Adenovirus Pneumonia in Pediatric Patients

Huifeng Fan¹, Bingtai Lu^2,3, Can Cao⁴

¹Department of Respiration, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Centre, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.

Frontiers in Immunology

|February 5, 2021

Insights

Biomarkers like TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 in plasma can help identify severe human adenovirus pneumonia in children. These inflammatory mediators show potential for predicting disease severity in pediatric patients.

Area of Science:

Pediatric Infectious Diseases
Immunology
Biomarker Discovery

Background:

Human adenovirus (HAdV) pneumonia is a significant global health concern for children.
Current diagnosis of severe HAdV pneumonia lacks specific biomarkers, relying on clinical features that don't always correlate with severity.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate local and systemic inflammatory mediators as potential biomarkers for predicting severe HAdV pneumonia in children.

Main Methods:

Analyzed 37 common inflammatory protein levels in plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) of pediatric HAdV pneumonia patients.
Assessed correlations between protein levels, disease severity, and lung lesions using statistical and bioinformatic analyses.

Main Results:

Elevated levels of specific TNF superfamily (TNFSF) and TNF receptor superfamily (TNFRSF) members were observed in HAdV pneumonia patients.
TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 in plasma were significantly increased in severe cases and correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP) levels.
ROC analysis confirmed the potential of TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 as predictors of severe HAdV pneumonia.

Conclusions:

TNFSF/TNFRSF members play a crucial role in the inflammatory network of pediatric HAdV pneumonia.
Plasma TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 are promising indicators for identifying severe HAdV pneumonia in pediatric patients.

Read full analysis

Abstract

Background:

Human adenoviruses (HAdV) infection caused pneumonia remains a major threat to global children health. Currently, diagnosis of severe HAdV pneumonia in children is hampered by the lack of specific biomarkers. Also, the severity of adenovirus pneumonia in pediatric patients is generally based on clinical features and existing biomarkers do not reliably correlate to clinical severity. Here, we asked whether local and systemic inflammatory mediators could act as biomarkers predicting severe HAdV pneumonia in children.

Methods:

Totally 37 common inflammatory protein levels were determined by Luminex assay in plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from pediatric patients who were diagnosed with HAdV pneumonia, and their correlation with the disease severity and lung lesion were assessed using statistical and bioinformatic analysis.

Results:

Among 37 inflammatory cytokines, the protein levels of 4 TNF superfamily (TNFSF) members and their receptors (TNF receptor superfamily, TNFRSF) [TNFSF13B, TNFSF14, sTNF-R1 and sTNF-R2] in the plasma and 7 TNFSF/TNFRSF members [TNFSF12, TNFSF13, TNFSF13B, TNFSF14, TNFRSF8, sTNF-R1, and sTNF-R2] in the BAL were enhanced in patients with HAdV pneumonia compared with control subjects with airway foreign body. Moreover, the protein levels of all the tested TNFSF/TNFRSF members (except TNFSF12) were elevated in the BAL of severe group compared with non-severe HAdV pneumonia patients, while only TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 were dramatically increased in the plasma of severe cases, and positively related to the plasma CRP levels. In addition, ROC analysis indicated that TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 displayed a great potential to predict severe HAdV pneumonia.

Conclusion:

In pediatric HAdV pneumonia, TNFSF/TNFRSF members function as key molecules in local and systemic inflammatory network, and the plasma TNFSF13B and TNFSF14 may be the potential local and systemic inflammatory indicators of severe HAdV pneumonia in pediatric patients.

Keywords:

adenovirus inflammation pediatric pneumonia tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily (TNFRSF)

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