Expression and significance of serum TIMP3,STAT3,and FOXM1 in children with different degrees of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection

ZHANG Wei; WANG Dandan; LIANG Dandan; WANG Jie

doi:10.13431/j.cnki.immunol.j.20240117

Abstract：Objective To investigate the relationship between the severity of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection and the expression levels of serum tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 3(TIMP3),signal transducer and activator of transcription 3(STAT3),as well as forkhead box protein M1(FOXM1)in children,and their diagnostic value for severe pneumonia.Methods A total of 162 children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia from June 2022 to June 2024 were selected as study group.According to the severity of the disease,they were assigned into a mild group of 119 cases and a severe group of 43 cases.Another 162 children who underwent health check-up were selected as the control group.ELISA was applied to detect the expression levels of TIMP3,STAT3 and FOXM1 in all serum samples;Pearson method was applied to analyze the correlation between clinical data and serum TIMP3,STAT3 and FOXM1 levels;receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curves were plotted to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum TIMP3,STAT3 and FOXM1 levels for severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in children.Results Compared with the control group,the serum TIMP3 expression level in the study group was lower(P<0.05),while the STAT3 and FOXM1 expression levels were higher(P<0.05).As the severity of the disease increased,the expression level of TIMP3 in the serum of the affected children further decreased(P<0.05),while the expression levels of STAT3 and FOXM1 further increased(P<0.05).Pearson correlation analysis results showed that serum TIMP3 level was negatively correlated with the levels of IL-2,IL-6,IL-10,IL-1β,TNF-α,IFN-γ,C-reactive protein and procalcitonin(P<0.05),while STAT3 and FOXM1 levels were positively correlated with the variables mentioned above(P<0.05).ROC curve results showed that the area under the curve(AUC)value of the combination of serum TIMP3,STAT3 and FOXM1 in the diagnosis of severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in children was 0.972,which was obviously higher than that of TIMP3(Z=2.581,P=0.010),STAT3(Z=2.838,P=0.005)and FOXM1(Z=2.404,P=0.016)separately.Conclusion The expression level of TIMP3 in the serum of children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection is decreased,while the expression levels of STAT3 and FOXM1 are increased.The expression levels of the three are correlated with the severity of the disease.The combination of the three has high diagnostic value for severe Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in children.