Abstract:Objective To investigate the changes and clinical significance of NLRP3 signaling pathway in children with mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) of different severity.Methods A total of 90 children with MPP who were hospitalized for alveolar lavage in our hospital from April 2022 to October 2022 were divided into mild group (26 cases) and severe group (64 cases). Meanwhile, 10 children undergoing recheck after removal of foreign bodies in our hospital during the same period were set as the control group. Clinical data of the groups were compared, and the correlation of the level of MAP1LC3B with the levels of NF-KB and NLRP3 was analyzed via the Spearman method.Results Compared with the control group, the level of MAP1LC3B in the MPP group was significantly higher (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the sex composition, age, WBC, PLT, PCT, ALT, and the copy number, IgM and IgG of MP between the mild group and the severe group (P > 0.05), Compared with the mild group, the severe group had a longer duration of fever and length of hospital stay, and higher levels of CRP, LDH, D-dimer, IgA, MAP1LC3B, NF-KB and NLRP3 (P < 0.05). Spearman correlation analysis revealed that the expression of MAP1LC3B was positively correlated with the levels of NF-KB (rs =0.510, P <0.05) and NLRP3 (rs =0.610, P <0.05).Conclusions Autophagy-NLRP3 signaling pathway is involved in the pathogenesis of MPP, and is related to the severity of the disease.