13 - Identification of clinical features and biomarkers that predict mycoplasma-associated human diseases

Abstract

Since they lack a cell wall, mycoplasmal organisms differ from other prokaryotes in that they exhibit biological traits such as the inability to react to Gram stain and resistance to several routinely prescribed antibacterial substances such as beta-lactams. Mycoplasmal organisms normally live extracellularly in the respiratory and urogenital systems and are connected to mucosal surfaces. Among the mycoplasmal organisms, Mycoplasma pneumoniae is a common respiratory pathogen that infects humans all over the world and can cause everything from a mild upper respiratory infection to a serious case of atypical pneumonia. While serious infections that necessitate hospitalization are uncommon, they do occur in both adults and children and can affect many organ systems. The degree to which the host immune system reacts to the infection appears to be connected to the severity of the disease. This organism is also responsible for a wide range of nonpulmonary symptoms, such as neurological, hepatic, and cardiac disorders, hemolytic anemia, and polyarthritis, in addition to respiratory tract infections. This chapter focuses on the clinical presentation of mycoplasmal infection and additionally, we also looked into the key important biomarkers, including LDH, ferritin, IL-6, Tumor Necrosis Factor, IL-17, and IL-18, to assess which ones could be beneficial in the differential diagnosis of M. pneumonia.