BackgroundThe relationship between acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)/acute lung injury (ALI) and levels of certain inflammatory factors remains controversial. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to summary the available studies evaluated the association between levels of inflammatory factors and ARDS/ALI incidence.MethodsWe searched the PubMed, EmBase, and Cochrane databases for studies published in or before July 2017. For each inflammatory factor, a random effects model was employed to pool results from different studies.ResultsWe identified 63 studies that included 6,243 patients in our meta-analysis. Overall, the results indicated that the levels of angiopoietin (ANG)-2 [standard mean difference (SMD): 1.34; P < 0.001], interleukin (IL)-1β (SMD: 0.92; P = 0.012), IL-6 (SMD: 0.66; P = 0.005), and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α (SMD: 0.98; P = 0.001) were significantly higher in patients with ARDS/ALI than in unaffected individuals. No significant differences were observed between patients with ARDS/ALI and unaffected individuals in terms of the levels of IL-8 (SMD: 0.61; P = 0.159), IL-10 (SMD: 1.10; P = 0.231), and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI)-1 (SMD: 0.70; P = 0.060).ConclusionsOur findings indicated that ARDS/ALI were associated with elevated levels of ANG-2, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α, but not with IL-8, IL-10, and PAI-1 levels.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.