Microbial Bioactives
Microbial Bioactives | Online ISSN 2209-2161
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Volume 9 Number 1 2026
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)
Blood Glucose, Urea, and Creatinine Levels in Acute and Chronic Bacterial Pneumonia: A Comparative Bacteriological and Biochemical Analysis
Nahla Ghazi Mohammed Al Loza Razzaq1, 2*
Microbial Bioactives 9 (1) 1-8 https://doi.org/10.25163/microbbioacts.9110778
Submitted: 31 March 2026 Revised: 08 June 2026 Accepted: 15 June 2026 Published: 16 June 2026
Abstract
Community-acquired pneumonia remains a major cause of morbidity in adults, yet how its acute and chronic forms differ, both in the bacteria responsible and in the metabolic strain placed on the body, is still not entirely settled. This study compared bacteriological and biochemical profiles, focusing on fasting glucose, urea, and creatinine, across 80 adult patients with acute (n = 40) or chronic (n = 40) bacterial pneumonia and 40 matched healthy controls recruited at Merjan Teaching Hospital and affiliated clinics in Babylon Province, Iraq. Sputum cultures and standardized biochemical assays were performed for each participant, with group differences assessed using Kruskal-Wallis, chi-square, and Pearson correlation analyses, given that several variables departed from a normal distribution. Gram-positive cocci accounted for 90% of all isolates, with Streptococcus pneumoniae the most common organism overall (60%); Gram-negative bacilli were comparatively rare. Acute pneumonia clustered most heavily among patients aged 58 to 67 years, and smoking showed a striking association with both disease groups (chi-square = 56.12, p < .001). Fasting glucose and urea both differed significantly across groups (H = 7.59, p = .023; H = 17.17, p < .001, respectively), with urea rising most sharply among acute cases. These findings point toward bacterial pneumonia carrying a measurable metabolic signature, one that appears to track more closely with disease severity and smoking exposure than with chronicity alone, though the cross-sectional design cannot fully disentangle which factor is driving which. Larger, multicenter studies with adjusted models are warranted.
Keywords: Bacterial pneumonia; Fasting blood glucose; Serum urea; Serum creatinine; Smoking
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