title: Hepatocyte growth factor is a better indicator of therapeutic response than C-reactive protein within the first day of treatment in pneumonia.
abstract: Acute bacterial infectious diseases are mostly treated empirically at admission before the culture results are available. According to the risk for serious complications in the case of therapeutic failure, it is important to evaluate the therapy results and change to a more appropriate antibiotic regime as soon as possible. In the present study, 40 patients with X-ray-verified community-acquired pneumonia were examined and blood specimens were collected before and within 24 h of treatment. Body temperature, C-reactive protein (CRP) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) were investigated. Thirty-two patients received an appropriate initial antibiotic therapy regarding clinical outcome, but in 8 patients the treatment was changed because of therapy failure. Changes of HGF levels after 18-24 h of treatment could predict the therapeutic results accurately in 38 of 40 cases (sensitivity 100%, specificity 94%, positive likelihood ratio 16.0). HGF was significantly better to predict therapy outcome than CRP (p < 0.0001).
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, University Hospital, Linkoping, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abednazari
authors.forename: Junyang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Millinger
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brudin
authors.forename: Pia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Forsberg
authors.forename: Fariba
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Nayeri
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D002097:C-Reactive Protein