Diagnostic Value, Expression and Correlation with Disease Severity of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 in Children with Respiratory Tract Infections

doi:10.16458/j.cnki.1007-0893.2025.14.016

Abstract：Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value, expression levels, and correlation with disease severity of procalcitonin (PCT), eosinophils (EOS), and high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) in children with respiratory tract infections. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 104 children with respiratory tract infections and 101 children without respiratory tract infections admitted to Kaifeng People's Hospital from July 2021 to July 2024, divided into an observation group (104 cases) and a control group (101 cases). The levels of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 were compared between the two groups. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to assess the impact of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 levels on pediatric respiratory tract infections. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to analyze the diagnostic value of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 individually and in combination for pediatric respiratory tract infections. Additionally, the 104 children with respiratory tract infections were divided into three subgroups based on the severity of their condition: mild group (58 cases), moderate group (24 cases), and severe group (22 cases). The levels of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 were compared among the three subgroups. Spearman correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between PCT, EOS, HMGB1 and the severity of the disease. Results: The levels of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 in the observation group were higher than those in the control group, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that high levels of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 were risk factors for the occurrence of pediatric respiratory tract infections (P < 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the curve (AUC) for combined detection of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 in diagnosing pediatric respiratory tract infections was 0.961 (95% CI: 0.934-0.987), with a sensitivity of 98.00% and a specificity of 90.10%, which were higher than those of any single test alone. The levels of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 in the severe group were higher than those in the moderate and mild groups, and the levels in the moderate group were higher than those in the mild group, with statistically significant differences (P < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis showed that PCT, EOS, and HMGB1 were positively correlated with the severity of the disease (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Children with respiratory tract infections exhibit abnormally high levels of PCT, EOS, and HMGB1. Combined detection of these three markers has a high diagnostic value for pediatric respiratory tract infections and can effectively assess the severity of the disease.