th1/th2 cytokine profile and its diagnostic value in mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia

Background: the levels of th1/th2 cytokine can alter in pathogenic infection in children with pneumonia. objectives: to evaluate th1/th2 cytokine profile and its diagnostic value in m. pneumoniae pneumonia in children. patients and methods: children with m. pneumoniae mono-infection and 30 healthy children were tested with cytokines assay. we used real time pcr to detect m. pneumoniae in children with pneumonia. results: m. pneumoniae test was positive in 2188 (16.62%) out of 13161 pneumonia children. children aged 5 - 9 years had the highest rate and summer was a season with high rate of m. pneumoniae incidence in zhejiang province. during the course of study, in 526 pneumonia children with m. pneumoniae mono-infection and 30 healthy children cytokines assay was performed. il-2 level of m. pneumoniae pneumonia children was lower than that of healthy children (median levels, pg/ml: il-2: 3.2 vs. 5.7, p = 0.00), while il-4, il-10 and ifn-γ were higher than in healthy children (median levels, pg/ml: il-4: 3.2 vs. 1.5, p = 0.00; il-10: 5.6 vs. 2.5, p = 0.001; ifn-γ: 20.4 vs. 4.8, p = 0.001). conclusions: il-2 decreases and il-4, il-10 and ifn-γ increase in children with m. pneumoniae pneumonia, which has a promising prospect in diagnosis of this disease in clinical practice.