The level of serum heme oxygenase-1 and carbon monoxide in children with mycoplasma pneumoniae infection

Objective To investigate the role of heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) and carbon monoxide(CO) in children with mycoplasma pneumoniae infection. Methods A total of 198 cases with mycoplasma pneumoniae infection under 3 years were enrolled in this study.According to whether with wheezing, all cases were divided into wheezing group(n=58) and no wheezing group(n=140). According to having hypoxemia, wheezing group was divided into mild wheezing group(n=34) and severe wheezing group(n=24). And no wheezing group was set as control group.The serum COHb levels were measured by dual-wavelength spectrophotometry.The serum HO-1 were measured by ELISA. Results The levels of serum HO-1 and COHb% in severe wheezing group were(2 734.10±707.59) ng/L, (3.88±0.83)%, and(1 130.03±671.02) ng/L, (1.16±0.63)% in mild wheezing group, and(931.32±451.67) ng/L, (1.04±0.37)% in no wheezing group, respectively.There were significant differences in serum HO-1 and COHb% between severe wheezing group and mild wheezing group(P 0.05, respectively). There was significant positive correlation between serum HO-1 and COHb%(r=0.875, P<0.01). Conclusion With mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, the expression of HO-1 and COHb% increase by the wheezing disease progression.HO-1 and CO may participate in the development process of infantile wheezing diseases. Key words: Heme oxygenase-1; Carbon monoxide; Mycoplasma pneumoniae