Serum sST2 levels in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia complicated by Epstein-Barr virus infection and their correlation with clinical indicators

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1004-583X.2026.05.008

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the level of soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2 (sST2) in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) complicated by Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, and to assess its correlations with clinical indicators, thereby evaluating its potential value in determining disease severity. Methods Clinical data were retrospectively analyzed for 69 children with MPP complicated by EBV infection (MP+EB group), 77 children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection alone (MP group), and 70 healthy children who underwent physical examination during the same period (HC group), all hospitalized in the Department of Pediatrics of the Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University from April 2024 to February 2025. Serum sST2 and laboratory indicators of inflammation, myocardial injury, and liver function were measured. Spearman correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlations between sST2 and these indicators. Results Serum sST2 levels were higher in the MP+EB group than in the MP group and HC group (P<0.01), and were also higher in the MP group than in the HC group (P<0.05). The MP+EB group had longer fever duration, longer hospital stay, and higher C-reactive protein (CRP) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels than the MP group (P<0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference in procalcitonin (PCT) levels between the two groups (P>0.05). In the MP+EB group, sST2 was positively correlated with CRP, dydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, LDH, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) (r_s=0.805, 0.792, 0.806, 0.768, 0.394, and 0.523, respectively; all P<0.01), but showed no correlation with PCT (r_s=0.133, P=0.276). In the MP group, sST2 was also positively correlated with the above indicators and was additionally positively correlated with PCT (r_s=0.646, P<0.01). Conclusion Serum sST2 is elevated in children with MPP complicated by EBV infection and is closely associated with inflammation, myocardial injury, and tissue injury markers. These findings suggest that sST2 may serve as a potential biomarker for assessing disease severity in these patients, and that its elevation may be related to immune-inflammatory pathways triggered by viral infection.

Key words: Mycoplasma pneumoniae, Epstein-Barr virus, soluble suppression of tumorigenicity 2, children, biomarker

CLC Number:

R375.2

Ye Qi, Wang Yingying, Qiu Xin, Chen Wenke, Cao Longbin. Serum sST2 levels in children with Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia complicated by Epstein-Barr virus infection and their correlation with clinical indicators[J]. Clinical Focus, 2026, 41(5): 441-446.

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URL: https://www.lchc.cn/EN/10.3969/j.issn.1004-583X.2026.05.008

https://www.lchc.cn/EN/Y2026/V41/I5/441

Figures/Tables 5

References 20

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组别	例数	年龄(岁)	男性[例(%)]	发热时间(d)	咳嗽时间(d)	住院时间(d)
MP组	77	6(3,8)	38(49.4)	4(3,6)	4(3,6)	5(3,6)
MP+EB组	69	5(4,7)	35(50.7)	6(5,8)	5(3,7)	6(5,8)
HC组	70	5(4,6)	35(50.0)	-	-	-
Z/H值		0.103	0.404	-2.545	-0.435	-5.347
P值		0.950	0.817	0.011	0.663	<0.01

组别	例数	年龄(岁)	男性[例(%)]	发热时间(d)	咳嗽时间(d)	住院时间(d)
MP组	77	6(3,8)	38(49.4)	4(3,6)	4(3,6)	5(3,6)
MP+EB组	69	5(4,7)	35(50.7)	6(5,8)	5(3,7)	6(5,8)
HC组	70	5(4,6)	35(50.0)	-	-	-
Z/H值		0.103	0.404	-2.545	-0.435	-5.347
P值		0.950	0.817	0.011	0.663	<0.01

项目	MP组(n=77)	MP+EB组(n=69)	Z/t值	P值
CRP(mg/L)	9.81(2.68,23.85)	26.91(19.31,35.02)	3.996	<0.01
WBC(×10⁹/L)	7.13(5.61,8.75)	8.15(5.96,10.44)	2.103	0.035
NEU(×10⁹/L)	3.81(3.08,5.09)	4.54(2.72,5.80)	1.203	0.229
LYM(×10⁹/L)	2.20(1.41,3.19)	2.47(1.82,3.15)	1.411	0.158
PLT(×10⁹/L)	307(248,365)	304(245,372)	0.289	0.773
MON(×10⁹/L)	0.51(0.30,0.66)	0.48(0.33,0.63)	0.077	0.938
HBDH(U/L)	226.00(202.00,285.00)	237.00(200.50,271.50)	0.106	0.917
PA(mg/L)	111.00(87.00,151.00)	108.00(94.00,143.50)	0.046	0.964
GLB(g/L)	28.00(25.20,29.90)	28.70(26.05,31.00)	1.742	0.081
ALB(g/L)	40.40(38.50,42.40)	40.60(39.30,42.20)	0.325	0.745
LDH(U/L)	273.00(240.00,300.00)	328.00(279.00,365.00)	4.706	<0.01
GGT(U/L)	9.00(7.00,11.00)	9.00(8.00,11.00)	0.363	0.716
ALT(U/L)	14.00(11.00,17.00)	12.00(10.00,14.50)	2.441	0.015
AST(U/L)	34.00(28.00,43.00)	32.00(28.00,39.00)	1.267	0.205
CR(μmol/L)	27.00(21.00,34.00)	29.00(25.00,33.50)	1.186	0.235
CK(U/L)	113.40(87.00,166.00)	102.00(80.50,147.50)	1.562	0.118
CK-MB(U/L)	26.90(21.00,35.50)	29.60(20.00,43.40)	0.768	0.442
UREA(mmol/L)	3.23±0.76	3.34±0.78	0.866	0.386
TP(g/L)	66.90(65.60,69.40)	70.20(66.90,71.90)	3.488	<0.01
PCT(μg/L)	0.13(0.07,0.28)	0.11(0.09,0.58)	0.563	0.581
hs-CRP(mg/L)	5.43(1.58,13.37)	7.19(2.84,16.59)	0.954	0.340

项目	MP组(n=77)	MP+EB组(n=69)	Z/t值	P值
CRP(mg/L)	9.81(2.68,23.85)	26.91(19.31,35.02)	3.996	<0.01
WBC(×10⁹/L)	7.13(5.61,8.75)	8.15(5.96,10.44)	2.103	0.035
NEU(×10⁹/L)	3.81(3.08,5.09)	4.54(2.72,5.80)	1.203	0.229
LYM(×10⁹/L)	2.20(1.41,3.19)	2.47(1.82,3.15)	1.411	0.158
PLT(×10⁹/L)	307(248,365)	304(245,372)	0.289	0.773
MON(×10⁹/L)	0.51(0.30,0.66)	0.48(0.33,0.63)	0.077	0.938
HBDH(U/L)	226.00(202.00,285.00)	237.00(200.50,271.50)	0.106	0.917
PA(mg/L)	111.00(87.00,151.00)	108.00(94.00,143.50)	0.046	0.964
GLB(g/L)	28.00(25.20,29.90)	28.70(26.05,31.00)	1.742	0.081
ALB(g/L)	40.40(38.50,42.40)	40.60(39.30,42.20)	0.325	0.745
LDH(U/L)	273.00(240.00,300.00)	328.00(279.00,365.00)	4.706	<0.01
GGT(U/L)	9.00(7.00,11.00)	9.00(8.00,11.00)	0.363	0.716
ALT(U/L)	14.00(11.00,17.00)	12.00(10.00,14.50)	2.441	0.015
AST(U/L)	34.00(28.00,43.00)	32.00(28.00,39.00)	1.267	0.205
CR(μmol/L)	27.00(21.00,34.00)	29.00(25.00,33.50)	1.186	0.235
CK(U/L)	113.40(87.00,166.00)	102.00(80.50,147.50)	1.562	0.118
CK-MB(U/L)	26.90(21.00,35.50)	29.60(20.00,43.40)	0.768	0.442
UREA(mmol/L)	3.23±0.76	3.34±0.78	0.866	0.386
TP(g/L)	66.90(65.60,69.40)	70.20(66.90,71.90)	3.488	<0.01
PCT(μg/L)	0.13(0.07,0.28)	0.11(0.09,0.58)	0.563	0.581
hs-CRP(mg/L)	5.43(1.58,13.37)	7.19(2.84,16.59)	0.954	0.340

指标	sST2
	MP组(n=77)		MP+EB组(n=69)
	r_s值	P值	r_s值	P值
CRP	0.423	<0.01	0.805	<0.01
WBC	0.004	0.971	0.019	0.875
NEU	0.011	0.922	0.159	0.191
LYM	0.046	0.692	0.022	0.855
PLT	-0.167	0.210	0.092	0.451
MON	0.119	0.301	0.065	0.602
HBDH	0.304	0.007	0.792	<0.01
PA	0.035	0.762	0.072	0.559
GLB	-0.285	0.012	0.161	0.186
ALB	-0.023	0.844	0.221	0.069
LDH	0.416	<0.01	0.806	<0.01
GGT	0.165	0.152	0.030	0.809
ALT	0.123	0.286	0.136	0.263
AST	0.351	0.002	0.394	0.001
CR	-0.300	0.008	-0.334	0.005
CK	0.144	0.213	0.148	0.225
CK-MB	0.642	<0.01	0.523	<0.01
UREA	-0.266	0.048	-0.069	0.581
TP	-0.314	0.006	0.027	0.824
PCT	0.646	<0.01	0.133	0.276
hs-CRP	0.310	0.006	0.768	<0.01
住院天数	0.005	0.966	0.090	0.463
发热天数	0.050	0.671	0.188	0.123
咳嗽天数	0.080	0.488	0.012	0.936