Do Lung surfactant proteins play a role in severity of bronchiolitis

Abstract

Bronchiolitis is a common respiratory viral infection in children under 2 years of age. The Surfactant Protein A and D (SP A and SP D) are collagen containing lectin (collectins) help in controlling pulmonary infections, inflammations; and allergies. Thus, these collectins might play a major role in severe bronchiolitis.Thirty (n=30) severe and thirty (n=30) non-severe clinically diagnosed bronchiolitis infants with age and gender matched were recruited. The serum levels of SP A and SP D was quantified using ELISA.The SP A levels were significantly reduced in severe cases (0.16ng/L ± 0.0028) compared to non-severe cases (0.17ng/L ± 0.0009) (p <0.0001) and SP D levels were significantly higher in severe cases (0.12ng/ml ± 0.001) compared to non-severe cases (0.10ng/ml ± 0.043) (p <0.05).Reduced level of SP-A and the elevated level of SP-D was associated with severe pulmonary inflammation and infection in bronchiolitis. Thus variation in levels of SP-A and SP D might play a major role in the pathogenesis of severe bronchiolitis.