Abnormal expression of lncRNA CASC9 in pneumonia children with respiratory failure and its feasible value for the clinical diagnosis of patients

Figures & data

Table 1. Clinical data of the study population.

Variables		All subjects (n = 288)
	Healthy (n = 90)	Pneumonia (n = 102)	Severe pneumonia (n = 96)
Sex (male/female)	54/36	65/37	58/38
Age	4.13 ± 1.27	4.20 ± 1.39	4.36 ± 1.38
BMI	21.95 ± 2.08	22.05 ± 2.33	21.85 ± 2.39
WBC (10^9/L)	7.93 ± 1.83	8.76 ± 2.29*	8.76 ± 2.44^*#
Absulte Neutrophils (10^9/L)	3.58 ± 1.23	9.60 ± 1.40***	13.23 ± 2.16^***###
CRP (mg/L)	2.96 ± 1.30	8.45 ± 1.51***	11.11 ± 2.20^***###
Lactate dehydrogenase (U/L)	191.20 ± 13.37	281.87 ± 62.22***	311.20 ± 73.74^***###
Lymphocyte (10^9/L)	2.44 ± 0.64	2.57 ± 0.57	2.45 ± 0.60
PCT (ng/mL)	0.14 ± 0.07	0.34 ± 0.13***	1.51 ± 0.44^***###
IL-1β	6.07 ± 1.93	16.39 ± 2.89***	25.96 ± 3.36^***###
TNF-α	6.86 ± 1.97	79.08 ± 16.26***	94.89 ± 24.15^***###
IL-6	9.23 ± 2.79	45.73 ± 3.78***	71.76 ± 5.57^***###

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; WBC, white blood cell count; CRP, C-reactive protein; PCT, procalcitonin; data are expressed as n or mean ± standard deviation. ***p < 0.001 vs Healthy groups; ^###p < 0.001 vs pneumonia groups.

Figure 1. Expression of CASC9 in the serum samples from severe pneumonia children, pneumonia children, and healthy control. (a). The expression of CASC9 was decreased in severe pneumonia children compared with control as well as pneumonia patients. ***p < 0.001, ^###p < 0.001. (b-f). Pearson correlation test revealed that the serum CASC9 expression levels were negatively correlated with WBC (b), absolute neutrophils (c), CRP (d), lactate dehydrogenase (e), and PCT (f). (g-i). The Pearson correlation test revealed that serum CASC9 expression has negative correlations with inflammatory cytokines IL-1β (g), TNF-α (h), and IL-6 (i).

Figure 2. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of CASC9 in the diagnosis of severe pneumonia. (a) The AUC of CASC9 prediction on pneumonia from healthy control was analyzed using ROC curve (AUC = 0.827). (b) The AUC of CASC9 prediction on severe pneumonia from healthy control was analyzed using ROC curve (AUC = 0.959). (c) The AUC of CASC9 prediction on severe pneumonia from pneumonia children was analyzed by ROC curve (AUC = 0.806).

Figure 3. Influence of CASC9 in LPS-induced MRC-5 pneumonia cell model. (a) The expression of CASC9 was decreased in the LPS-induced MRC-5 cell model, while transfection of pcDNA3.1-CASC9 reversed the decreased expression of CASC9 by LPS. (**p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001). (b) Elevated expression of CASC9 could reverse the decreased cell viability induced by LPS. (c) Cell apoptosis of LPS-induced MRC-5 cells was increased while upregulation of CASC9 reversed the increased cell apoptosis by LPS. (d-f) Expression of inflammatory factors IL-1β (d), TNF-α (e), and IL-6 (f) were determined by ELISA assay. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001.