| Summary: | 博士 === 中山醫學大學 === 醫學研究所 === 104 === The aim of this study was to investigate the differential plasma levels of YKL-40 before and after antibiotic treatment in hospitalized adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Plasma YKL-40 level was measured in 61 adult patients with CAP and 60 healthy controls using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A decrease in the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and neutrophils and decreases in the number of white blood cells (WBCs), and YKL-40 were observed after antibiotic treatment. The plasma level of YKL-40 was correlated with the severity of CAP based on the Pneumonia Severity Index (PSI; r = 0.630, p = 0.001), CURB-65 (r = 0.640, p = 0.001), Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores (r = 0.539, p = 0.001), and hospital length of stay (r = 0.321, p = 0.011). And YKL-40 levels were not significantly correlated with the numbers of WBCs or neutrophils, and CAP levels in the CAP patients before they received treatment. Plasma YKL-40 might play a further role in the clinical assessment of the severity of CAP, which could potentially guide the development of future treatment strategies.
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