Using Cluster Analysis of Cytokines to Identify Patterns of Inflammation in Hospitalized Patients with Community-acquired Pneumonia: A Pilot Study

Authors

Timothy L. Wiemken, University of LouisvilleFollow
Robert R. Kelley, University of LouisvilleFollow
Rafael Fernandez-Botran, University of LouisvilleFollow
William A. Mattingly, University of LouisvilleFollow
Forest W. Arnold, University of LouisvilleFollow
Stephen P. Furmanek, University of LouisvilleFollow
Marcos I. Restrepo, South Texas Veterans Health Care System and University of Texas Health Science Center at San AntonioFollow
James D. Chalmers, Ninewells Hospital and Medical SchoolFollow
Paula Peyrani, University of LouisvilleFollow
Rodrigo Cavallazzi, University of LouisvilleFollow
Jose Bordon, Providence HospitalFollow
Stefano Aliberti, University of Milano-BicoccaFollow
Julio A. Ramirez, University of LouisvilleFollow

Funder

University of Louisville Division of Infectious Diseases and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Abstract

Purpose: Patients with severe community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) are believed to have an exaggerated inflammatory response to bacterial infection. Therapies aiming to modulate the inflammatory response have been largely unsuccessful, perhaps reflecting that CAP is a heterogeneous disorder that cannot be modulated by a single anti-inflammatory approach. We hypothesize that the host inflammatory response to pneumonia may be characterized by distinct cytokine patterns, which can be harnessed for personalized therapies.

Methods: Here, we use hierarchical cluster analysis of cytokines to examine if patterns of inflammatory response in 13 hospitalized patients with CAP can be defined. This was a secondary data analysis of the Community-Acquired Pneumonia Inflammatory Study Group (CAPISG) database. The following cytokines were measured in plasma and sputum on the day of admission: interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), IL-6, CXCL8 (IL-8), IL-10, IL-12p40, IL-17, interferon (IFN)γ, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α, and CXCL10 (IP-10). Hierarchical agglomerative clustering algorithms were used to evaluate clusters of patients within plasma and sputum cytokine determinations.

Results: A total of thirteen patients were included in this pilot study. Cluster analysis identified distinct inflammatory response patterns of cytokines in the plasma, sputum, and the ratio of plasma to sputum.

Conclusions: Inflammatory response patterns in plasma and sputum can be identified in hospitalized patients with CAP. Characterization of the local and systemic inflammatory response may help to better discriminate patients for enrollment into clinical trials of immunomodulatory therapies.

DOI

10.18297/jri/vol1/iss1/1/

Erratum

In Table 1, the patient identification numbers, along with the heading for these, were inadvertently omitted. The numbers are important to match with those in the heatmaps and dendrograms in Fig. 1. The error has been corrected.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Wiemken, Timothy L.; Kelley, Robert R.; Fernandez-Botran, Rafael; Mattingly, William A.; Arnold, Forest W.; Furmanek, Stephen P.; Restrepo, Marcos I.; Chalmers, James D.; Peyrani, Paula; Cavallazzi, Rodrigo; Bordon, Jose; Aliberti, Stefano; and Ramirez, Julio A. (2017) "Using Cluster Analysis of Cytokines to Identify Patterns of Inflammation in Hospitalized Patients with Community-acquired Pneumonia: A Pilot Study," The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections: Vol. 1 : Iss. 1 , Article 1.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18297/jri/vol1/iss1/1/
Available at: https://ir.library.louisville.edu/jri/vol1/iss1/1