Salivary Cortisol as a Marker for Pneumonia Severity

Abstract

Background: Pneumonia is an acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs. Cortisol is a good marker for stress so the cortisol level on admission can be a useful biomarker for prognosis of pneumonia. Salivary cortisol reflects the free non-protein-bound fraction and correlates strongly with cortisol in blood. Purpose: This study aims to detect the relationship between salivary cortisol level and pneumonia severity index. Patients and method: Prospective cohort study was carried on 50 pneumonic patients, 31 female and 19 male with mean age of (7.72 ±3.15) years. They were recruited from inpatient department of the Children's hospital, Ain-Shams University and Abbaseya Chest Hospital. Pneumonia severity was assessed clinically and Laboratory. Clinical assessment was done by duration of symptoms, vital data, oxygen saturation, PRESS score. Laboratory assessment was done by total leucocytic count, hemoglobin, platelet, ESR and CRP and was correlated with their salivary cortisol. Results: The mean salivary cortisol level was (33.75 ±43.58) ng/ml, which was positively correlated with pneumonia severity as assessed by PRESS score, duration of symptoms, temperature, systolic blood pressure, ESR, CRP, total leucocytic count. Moreover salivary cortisol showed significantly negative correlation with weight and height and BMI. Conclusion: Salivary cortisol can be used as a non-invasive biomarker for the severity of pneumonia in children.