Objective: To investigate the correlation of the gene polymorphism of β-148C/T of fibrinogen with the expression of fibrinogen and the attack of pediatric pneumonia.
Patients and methods: We employed polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) to detect the gene polymorphism of beta-fibrinogen gene-148C/T (β-148C/T). The expression level of fibrinogen in plasma was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and the expression level of fibrinogen β protein was determined using Western-blot method.
Results: Compared with the healthy control group, the expression level of fibrinogen β was significantly higher in patients with pneumonia. Additionally, the frequency of CC genotype, as well as the allele of C, in the pneumonia group were significantly higher than that in the control group. Meanwhile, the frequency of TT genotype and the allele of T were remarkably lower in patients with pneumonia compared to those in the control group. No significant difference was found in comparison with the CT genotype frequency between the two groups. Compared with the patients with TT genotypes, expressions of fibrinogen, IL-6 and CRP were significantly higher in the patients with the CC and CT genotypes. However, the odds ratio (OR) of pediatric pneumonia patients with TT genotype was 0.21, OR of pediatric pneumonia patients with CT genotype was 0.77 and OR of pediatric pneumonia patients with CC genotype was 12.73. The OR of patients with T allele was 1.85 and OR of patients with C allele was 5.15.
Conclusions: We concluded that β-148C/T gene polymorphism of fibrinogen was correlated with the susceptibility of pediatric pneumonia, suggesting that it may be a genetic risk factor, and fibrinogen β-148C/T gene may be involved in the onset of pediatric pneumonia through affecting the concentration of fibrinogen β in plasma.