Abstract: Abstract：Objective To investigate the clinical significance of serum hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in children with mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP). Methods A total of 107 children aged from 3-14 years old were enrolled in this study. Patients were consecutively hospitalized with pneumonia at the Department of Pediatrics, Tianjin Nankai Hospital and Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Hospital from January 2014 to June 2015. The patients with pneumonia were divided into two groups: MPP group (n=65) and bacterial pneumonia group (n=42). Patients in MPP group was subdivided into two groups: severe MPP group (n=27) and non-severe MPP group (n=38). Thirty healthy children were used as control group in this study. The serum level of HGF was detected by ELISA. The serum levels of C reactive protein (CRP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) were detected by an automated biochemistry analyzer in MPP patients. Results The serum levels of HGF were increased gradually in control group, MPP group and bacterial pneumonia group (ng/L: 4 174.3 ± 247.6, 6 507.1 ± 1 895.9 and 7 128.7 ± 1 990.2, P＜0.05). The serum levels of HGF, CRP and LDH were significantly higher in severe MPP group than those of non-severe MPP group (P＜0.05). Conclusion The serum level of HGF may play an important role in the pathogenesis of MPP in children, and which is connected to the severity of diseases. The higher levels of LDH and CRP suggest the severe MPP and macrolide-resistant. Glucocorticoid therapy should be given while the macrolide drugs are given.

Key words: hepatocyte growth factor, mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia, children, C-reactive protein, lactate dehydrogenase