To analyze the predictive significance of heparin-binding protein (HBP) and procalcitonin (PCT) on the severity of pneumonia.

A total of 87 pneumonia patients admitted to the Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Xishui County People′s Hospital from January 2023 to December 2023 were selected. Among them, 43 non-severe pneumonia cases were classified as the control group, and 44 severe pneumonia cases as the observation group. Levels of HBP, PCT, interleukin-6 (IL-6), D-dimer (DD), white blood cell count (WBC), and neutrophil percentage (N%) were measured in both groups. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze intergroup differences, while the χ² test or Fisher′s exact test was employed for categorical comparisons. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the diagnostic value of HBP, PCT, IL-6, DD, WBC, and N% in predicting pneumonia severity.

No statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups in terms of gender, age, body temperature, or medical history (P>0.05). The observation group exhibited higher respiratory rates (29.11±8.44)breaths/min and pulse rates (107.09±20.98) breaths/min compared to the control group (23.09±3.22 )breaths/min and (93.77±14.00) breaths/min, respectively(P<0.05). The observation group also showed elevated levels of HBP 166.99 (135.61, 198.36) ng/ml, PCT 8.23(1.44, 15.02) ng/ml, IL-6 596.09(112.52, 1 079.66)pg/ml, DD 1 588.57 (774.15, 2 402.99)ng/ml, and WBC 14.57 (11.90, 17.25)×10⁹/L compared to the control group HBP 79.26 (66.47, 92.05)ng/ml; PCT: 8.23(1.44, 15.02)ng/ml; IL-6: 56.16(-7.06, 119.38)pg/ml; DD: 410.73(267.91, 553.55)ng/ml; WBC: 8.88(7.44, 10.31)×10⁹/L(P<0.05). ROC curve analysis revealed that HBP cutoff: 138.23 ng/ml predicted severe pneumonia with an AUC of 0.77, sensitivity of 0.591, and specificity of 0.968 (P<0.05). PCT cutoff: 0.39 ng/ml showed an AUC of 0.76, sensitivity of 0.684, and specificity of 0.80 (P<0.05). IL-6 cutoff: 54.3 pg/ml demonstrated an AUC of 0.674, sensitivity of 0.522, and specificity of 0.896 (P<0.05), while DD cutoff: 343.80 ng/ml yielded an AUC of 0.730, sensitivity of 0.773, and specificity of 0.664 (P<0.05).

Elevated blood levels of HBP and PCT in severe pneumonia patients demonstrate predictive value. Combined detection of these biomarkers aids in identifying severe pneumonia and holds clinical significance.