Predicting the severity of viral bronchiolitis in children

Acute viral bronchiolitis is one of the common causes of hospitalization and mortality, especially among children in the first year of life who have risk factors (prematurity, congenital heart defects, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, immunosuppression). As factors associated with the severe course of bronchiolitis, along with the traditional ones, single nucleotide polymorphisms of the genes of the immune response molecules can be considered.The aim. Based on the analysis of clinical, laboratory and molecular genetic parameters, to identify prognostic criteria for the severe course of acute viral bronchiolitis in children.Materials and methods. The study included 106 children with acute viral bronchiolitis (severe course – 34, mild course – 72), the etiology of which in 67.9 % was respiratory syncytial virus. Forty-seven anamnestic, clinical, traditional laboratory and molecular genetic parameters were assessed as prognostic criteria. Determination of SNP genes of cytokines IL-4 (C-589T), IL-10 (G-1082A), IL-10 (C-592A), IL-10 (C-819T), TNF-α (G-308A), IL-17A (G197A), IL-17F (His161Arg), TLR2-753ArgGln, TLR6-Ser249Pro in venous blood was carried out by the polymerase chain reaction method.Results. An additional criterion for the risk of developing a severe course of bronchiolitis can be the mutant genotype (AA) SNP of the IL-10 gene (C-592A), which was detected exclusively in the group of patients with severe bronchiolitis, increasing the risk of developing a severe disease by 16.11 times (OR = 16.11; 95 % CI: 0.81–121.22, p = 0.02) in conjunction with already established modifying factors: the presence of congenital heart disease, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, prematurity, birth weight < 1500 g. Based on a comprehensive assessment of the established risk factors, a method has been developed that allows calculate the likelihood of developing a severe course of acute viral bronchiolitis. Conclusion. The use of the developed prediction method will not only increase the likelihood of developing severe acute viral bronchiolitis in children, but also determine the priority group among children with predictors of severe viral bronchiolitis for priority immunoprophylaxis against RS-virus infection