Plasma Soluble Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator Receptor Level as a Predictor of the Severity of Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Ping-Kun Tsai, Shih-Ming Tsao, Wei-En Yang, Chao-Bin Yeh, Hsiang-Ling Wang and Shun-Fa Yang
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Ping-Kun Tsai: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
Shih-Ming Tsao: Institute of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
Wei-En Yang: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
Chao-Bin Yeh: School of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
Hsiang-Ling Wang: Department of Beauty Science, National Taichung University of Science and Technology, Taichung 404, Taiwan
Shun-Fa Yang: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-8

Abstract: The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) mediates various cellular activities and is involved in proteolysis, angiogenesis, and inflammation. The objective of this study was to investigate the association between soluble uPAR (suPAR) levels and community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) severity. A commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was performed to measure the plasma suPAR levels in 67 healthy controls and 75 patients with CAP. Our results revealed that plasma suPAR levels were significantly elevated in patients with CAP compared with the controls, and antibiotic treatment was effective in reducing suPAR levels. The plasma suPAR levels were correlated with the severity of CAP based on the pneumonia severity index (PSI) scores. Furthermore, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulation significantly increased uPAR expression in RAW 264.7 macrophages. In conclusion, plasma suPAR levels may play a role in the clinical assessment of CAP severity; these findings may provide information on new targets for treatment of CAP.

Keywords: community-acquired pneumonia; suPAR; LPS; pneumonia severity index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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