Objective To investigate the impacts of long non-coding RNA SNHG14(lncRNA SNHG14)on proliferation,apoptosis,and inflammatory response of alveolar epithelial cells infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae by targeting the miR-17-5p/forkhead box K2(FOXK2)axis.Methods Alveolar epithelial cells A549 were divided into control group,infection group,sh-NC group,sh-SNHG14 group,sh-SNHG14+inhibi-tor NC group,and sh-SNHG14+miR-17-5p inhibitor group.The mRNA expressions of lncRNA SNHG14,miR-17-5p and FOXK2 were detected by RT-qPCR,the proliferation of A549 cells was detected by CCK-8 kit,and the apoptosis of A549 cells was detected by flow cytometry.The levels of IL-1β,TNF-α and IL-6 were de-tected by ELISA.Dual luciferase reporter gene assay was used to detect the binding of lncRNA SNHG14 to miR-17-5p,miR-17-5p and FOXK2.Results Compared with control group,lncRNA SNHG14,FOXK2 mR-NA expression,cell apoptosis rate,IL-6,TNF-α and IL-1β levels were increased in infection group,while miR-17-5p level and absorbance(A)value were decreased,with statistical significance(P＜0.05).LncRNA SNHG14 and FOXK2 mRNA expression,cell apoptosis rate,IL-6,TNF-α and IL-1β levels in sh-SNHG14 group were lower than those in infection group and sh-NC group,while miR-17-5p expression level and A val-ue were higher than those in infection group and sh-NC group,and the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).FOXK2 mRNA expression,apoptosis rate,IL-6,TNF-α and IL-1β levels of sh-SNHG14+miR-17-5p inhibitor group were all increased compared with sh-SNHG14+miR-17-5p inhibitor group,and the miR-17-5p expression and A value were decreased compared with sh-SNHG14+inhibitor NC group,the differences were statistically significant(P＜0.05).Dual luciferase reporter gene test results showed that lncRNA SNHG14 and miR-17-5p,as well as miR-17-5p and FOXK2 had a targeting relationship.Conclusion Interfer-ing the expression of lncRNA SNHG14 can up-regulate the expression of miR-17-5p and down-regulate the expression of FOXK2,thus inhibiting the apoptosis and inflammatory response of alveolar epithelial cells in-fected with Streptococcus pneumoniae infected cells and promoting the cell proliferation.