Background: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is an important public
health problem because of its high morbidity, mortality, and health care
costs. Many biomarkers have been used to determine the severity and
prognosis of pneumonia. Ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) is a marker of
the recently used oxidant-antioxidant mechanism and has been found to
increase in many inflammatory conditions. Objectives: To investigate the
role of the levels of IMA in CAP and to evaluate its relationship with
pneumonia severity. Methods: A total of 150 patients with a diagnosis of
CAP and 150 healthy individuals were included in the study. IMA levels
were evaluated in both groups. The patients with CAP were divided into
ambulatory, ward and intensive care groups, and their IMA levels were
compared. Results: There was no significant difference between the two
groups in terms of age or gender (p > 0.05 for both). No
significant difference was observed in the IMA levels of the patient and
control groups (p ˃ 0.05). The lowest IMA level was observed in the
ambulatory group (p = 0.001). When the patients in the ambulatory and
hospitalized (ward and intensive care together) groups were evaluated,
the cut-off value of IMA was 77.60 ABSU, sensitivity was 64.9%,
specificity was 75.0%, positive predictive value was 89.2%, and
negative predictive value was 40.3%. Conclusion: In the management of
patients with CAP, IMA seems to be a useful marker for CAP severity and
hospitalization decision. Keywords: Community-acquired pneumonia,
ischemia-modified albumin, biomarker
Role of "Ischemia Modified Albumin", a new biochemical marker of myocardial ischaemia, in the early diagnosis of acute coronary syndromes
