INTRODUCTION: The inflammatory marker patterns of community-acquired Pneumonia (CAP) induced by different microorganisms in adult patients remained unclear. OBJECTIVES: We aim to explore the inflammatory marker patterns of adult CAP patients induced by different pathogens. METHODS: Adult CAP patients with definite etiologies were enrolled from September 2010 to June 2012. They were divided into three groups according to the causative pathogens: typical bacteria, Mycoplasma pneumoniae (MP), and viruses. Twenty-seven cytokines and bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI) levels of serum collected within 7 days onset in these groups were compared. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-four cases were enrolled for serum detection and analysis, including 10 typical bacterial pneumonia patients, 56 cases with MP pneumonia and 58 with viral pneumonia. Three kinds (PDGF-BB, IP-10, RANTES) of 27 cytokines and BPI levels were significantly elevated in patients with acute pneumonia than healthy controls. Distinct inflammatory marker patterns were released by different pathogens: typical bacterial pneumonia patients had highest levels of BPI, IL-6, IL-8, IL-1ralpha; while patients caused by MP presented higher levels of PDGF-BB, IL-17A, G-CSF than those caused by viruses. Rhinovirus owned a higher inflammatory response level than the other viruses. The area under the curve (AUC) of PDGF-BB to differentiate MP and virus infection was biggest, which was 0.708. CONCLUSION: Distinct inflammatory marker patterns were released by different pathogens during acute pneumonia. Significantly increased level of PDGF-BB was observed in acute pneumonia for the first time. It showed a better ability to differentiate MP and virus infection.