Efficiency of interleukin 6 and interferon gamma in the differentiation of invasive pulmonary aspergillosis and pneumocystis pneumonia in pediatric oncology patients

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• 作者：He-Ping Shen ; Yong-Min Tang ; ¹ ; ^{y_m_tang@zju.edu.cn" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author} ; Hua Song ; Wei-Qun Xu ; Shi-Long Yang ; Xiao-Jun Xu ; ^{medico-xxj@163.com" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author}
• 关键词：Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis ; Pneumocystis pneumonia ; Oncology ; Cytokine ; Interleukin 6 ; Interferon gamma
• 刊名：International Journal of Infectious Diseases
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：July 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：48
• 期：Complete
• 页码：73-77
• 全文大小：569 K

文摘

Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) and Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) are two types of pulmonary fungal infection that are not easy to differentiate. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of inflammatory cytokines in the differential diagnosis of IPA and PCP.

Methods

A total of 227 pediatric oncology patients diagnosed with acute pneumonia were enrolled. They were divided into three groups: IPA, PCP, and ‘others’. The cytokine levels in these groups were compared, including interferon (IFN)-γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-10, IL-6, IL-4, and IL-2.

Results

Of the six cytokines, only IL-6 and IFN-γ levels were elevated in patients with acute pneumonia. IL-6 was comparable between patients with IPA and PCP (52.0 pg/ml vs. 25.8 pg/ml, p = 0.092), while IFN-γ was much higher in patients with PCP (19.9 pg/ml vs. 8.9 pg/ml, p = 0.001). The accuracy of IL-6 and the ratio of IL-6/IFN-γ in predicting IPA were 69.0% and 72.0%, respectively, while the accuracy of IFN-γ to predict PCP was 67.2%. IL-6 >140 pg/ml and IL-6/IFN-γ >9.0 presented specificities of 90% in predicting IPA, while IFN-γ >40 pg/ml presented specificity of 90% in predicting PCP.

Conclusions

IL-6 is predominantly elevated in IPA, while IFN-γ is significantly increased in PCP. These are helpful tools for the differential diagnosis of IPA and PCP.