Gelsolin levels in patients with bronchiolitis.

Bronchiolitis is the leading cause of hospitalization in infants. Biomarkers can show severity of the disease and help in clinical management. In this study, the aim was to determine the clinical predictiveness of plasma gelsolin levels (pGSN) in acute bronchiolitis. From December 2013 to May 2014, 52 patients with bronchiolitis (aged <24 months) were included in this study. Baseline clinical characteristic, complete blood count, C-Reactive Protein, plasma gelsolin levels, chest X-rays were obtained in all patients. The patients were divided into three groups as mild, moderate and severe based on clinical findings. There was no significant difference in pGSN levels between the control group and 3 study groups according to their clinical scores such as mild, moderate and severe bronchiolitis (p>0.05). Recent studies reported that pGSN levels can be used as a biomarker in sepsis, inflammation and injuries. In this study, we have demonstrated that pGSN level is not a predictive biomarker of bronchiolitis and its severity. Hence, we hypothesized that pGSN levels can be used in bacterial infections rather than viral infections as a biomarker.