Abstract
Pneumonia is the fourth leading cause of death in Japan. Elderly patients, in general, are prone to multimorbidity, atypical clinical symptoms, and show fewer symptomatic manifestations. Aspiration pneumonia in the elderly can be characterized by two aspects: asphyxia or airway obstruction, and microaspiration of oropharyngeal content. The latter occasionally results in bronchopneumonia, in which the inflammation extends from the upper respiratory tract to the smaller airways, and then to the alveolar regions. In this context, we have shown that the serum levels of secretory leukoprotease inhibitor (SLPI) are elevated in bronchopneumonia, making SLPI a useful serum indicator, particularly in the elderly.
