Etiological characteristics of pulmonary infection in patients with multiple myeloma and serum TNF-α, CRP and PCT

OBJECTIVE To analyze the etiological characteristics of pulmonary infection in patients with multiple myeloma and observe the levels of serum tumor necrosis factor -α(TNF-α), C-reactive protein(CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT). METHODS Totally 139 multiple myeloma patients who were complicated with pulmonary infection and treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from Jan 2019 to May 2022 were assigned as the infection group, 38 of whom had mild infection, 68 had moderate infection, and 33 had severe infection. Meanwhile, 122 multiple myeloma patients who were not complicated with pulmonary infection were chosen as the no infection group, and 143 healthy people who received physical examination were chosen as the control group. The distribution of pathogens isolated from the multiple myeloma patients with pulmonary infection was observed, and the relationship between the hematologic indexes and the respirator function was analyzed. RESULTS A total of 165 strains of pathogens were isolated from the 139 multiple myeloma patients complicated with pulmonary infection, 102 (61.82%) of which were gram-negative bacteria. The serum TNF-α, CRP, PCT, whole blood CD64, airway resistance (RAW), response frequency (Fres) and mean airway pressure (Pmean) of the control group, the no infection group and the infection group showed upward trends, while the dynamic thoracic lung compliance (Cdyn) level of the three groups showed downward trend (P<0.05). The serum TNF-α, CRP, PCT, whole blood CD64, RAW, Fres and Pmean of the multiple myeloma patients complicated with mild, moderate and severe pulmonary infection showed upward, while the Cdyn showed downward trend(P<0.05). The hematologic indexes were positively correlated with the degree of infection, RAW, Fres and Pmean and were negatively correlated with Cdyn(P<0.05). CONCLUSION The gram-negative bacteria are dominant among the pathogens isolated from the multiple myeloma patients complicated with pulmonary infection, the patients show the rise of expression levels of serum TNF-α, CRP, PCT and whole blood CD64 and the decline of respiratory function. The hematologic indexes are associated with the degree of infection and respiratory function.