Abstract: OBJECTIVE To dynamically monitor the levels of tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α), interleukin-10 (IL^-10), and transforming growth factor β(TGF-β)in plasma of patients with severe pneumonia and explore its significance so as to provide guidance for clinical treatment of the patients with severe pneumonia and evaluation of prognosis. METHODS A total of 88 patients with severe pneumonia who were treated in the hospital from May 2012 to Jun 2015 were recruited as the study objects, then the sputum specimens were cultured to isolate and identify pathogens, the enrolled patients were divided into the survival group with 38 cases and the death group with 50 cases according to the status of survival. The levels of TNF-α, IL^-10, and TGF-β in plasma were observed and compared between the two groups of patients on Day 1, 3, and 6 of admission to the hospital or on the day of discharge or death. RESULTS The pathogens were detected positive in 54 of 88 submitted specimens, with the detection rate 61.36%. Totally 54 strains of pathogens were isolated, of which 70.37% were gram-negative bacteria, 16.67% were gram-positive bacteria, and 12.96% were fungi. There was significant difference in the level of TNF-α, IL^-10, or TGF-β in plasma between the two groups of patients on Day 1, 3, and 6 of admission to the hospital or on the day of discharge or death (P＜0.05). The levels of TNF-α, IL^-10, and TGF-β of the survival group were significantly lower than those of the death group at the different time points (P＜0.05). CONCLUSION The dynamic monitoring of the levels of TNF-α, IL^-10, and TGF-β in plasma of the patients with severe pneumonia may facilitate the monitoring of illness condition and evaluation of prognosis. The levels of TNF-α, IL^-10, and TGF-β are elevated with the disease course, which indicates the poor prognosis.