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Heightened Local Th17 Cell Inflammation Is Associated with Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children under the

Ming Liu1,2, Bingtai Lu1,3,4, Huifeng Fan1

  • 1Department of Respiratory, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Centre, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.

Mediators of Inflammation
|October 4, 2021
PubMed

Insights

Severe community-acquired pneumonia (sCAP) in infants is linked to elevated IL-17-related cytokines. These inflammatory markers show predictive power for sCAP, highlighting the role of T helper 17 cell immunity.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases
  • Immunology
  • Respiratory Medicine

Background:

  • Severe community-acquired pneumonia (sCAP) in children under one year old is a significant cause of illness and death.
  • Understanding the immunological factors driving sCAP in infants is crucial for developing effective treatments.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the clinical, etiological, and immunological characteristics of sCAP in infants.
  • To identify specific cytokines associated with sCAP severity and predict its occurrence.

Main Methods:

  • Analyzed plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cytokine levels in 62 infants diagnosed with CAP.
  • Correlated cytokine levels with clinical parameters, disease severity, and infection etiology.
  • Assessed the predictive value of key cytokines for sCAP using area under the curve (AUC).

Main Results:

  • Elevated levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-17, associated with T helper 17 (Th17) cells, were observed in sCAP patients.
  • These cytokines in BAL correlated with neutrophil counts, hemoglobin levels, and mixed bacterial-viral infections.
  • BAL IL-1β, BAL IL-17, and plasma IL-6 demonstrated significant predictive power for sCAP (AUCs 0.820, 0.779, and 0.778, respectively).

Conclusions:

  • Increased local Th17 cell immunity plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of sCAP in infants.
  • Th17 cell-related cytokines can serve as valuable local and systemic inflammatory indicators for sCAP in this vulnerable age group.

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