Abstract
Finding relevant biomarkers as a potential predictor of severity for patients hospitalized with community acquired pneumonia (CAP), in addition to the clinical scoring system, could advance progress towards more effective patient management. The inflammatory marker, C-reactive protein (CRP), which is elevated in the pathogenesis of many infectious diseases, may be a key biomarker target for CAP. Previous studies have shown that serum CRP may be a useful diagnostic marker for pneumonia in hospitalized patients with acute respiratory symptoms. The main aims of this study were to determine the correlation between serum and urine CRP levels in hospitalized patients with CAP, and any correlation with patient outcomes. Our laboratory employed a commercially available human high sensitive CRP ELISA kit to check the level of CRP in the corresponding patient urine sample. The results showed that there was a positive correlation between patient serum and urine CRP levels. In addition, we showed the correlation of urine CRP levels with certain patient comorbidities, time to clinical stability, length of patient hospital stay, and mortality.
Highlights
Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common and serious illness
We were able to detect C-reactive protein (CRP) in urine with the human CRP-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the picogram range from urine samples collected from 30 patients with CAP; note that these data were arranged by serum CRP groups (Figure 1B)
All three groups of pneumonia patients show increased levels of urine CRP level when compared to healthy volunteers
Summary
Community acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common and serious illness. Most CAP patients are treated in outpatient facilities and only 20% of CAP patients require hospitalization [1]. Among hospitalized CAP patients, the majority of deaths occur during the early days of hospitalization [2]. Recognition of severity of CAP is essential for initiation of appropriate empiric antibiotic treatment, aggressive diagnostic work-up, and adequate supportive care. Management strategies for CAP patients depend on the severity of CAP and risk of mortality. In patients with severe CAP, a respiratory specimen does not always yield a positive microbiological culture or definitive pathogen. There is no single factor which can predict the severity of CAP [3]
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