Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between serum MALAT1 level and clinical features of elderly patients with severe pneumonia and its impact on patients' survival.
Patients and methods: A total of 150 elderly patients with severe pneumonia were enrolled in this study. According to patients' prognosis, enrolled subjects were divided into two groups, including death group (n=63) and survival group (n=87). The clinical data and indicators of subjects were collected, and χ2 and t-tests were used for statistical analysis. MALAT1 expression in the serum of all subjects was examined through the qPCR assay. Meanwhile, the predictive value of MALAT1 for patient death was assessed by the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).
Results: PT, APTT, DD, APACHE II scores, and MODS scores in death group were remarkably higher, while HB, HCT, TT, and PaO2/FiO2 were conversely lower than those in survival group (p<0.05). QRT-PCR results revealed significantly increased MALAT1 expression in death group when compared with survival group, especially in those patients with a history of smoking and COPD (p<0.05). In addition, ROC analysis confirmed the predictive value of MALAT1 for the prognosis of elderly patients with severe pneumonia.
Conclusions: MALAT1 is highly expressed in the serum of elderly patients with severe pneumonia. Furthermore, it may serve as a marker for the prediction of survival of these patients.