Serum levels of p60 soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor during acute Kawasaki disease.
To evaluate the role of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) during acute Kawasaki disease, we measured p60 soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor (sT-NF-R) shedding into the circulation in 48 patients with acute Kawasaki disease, all of whom received intravenous infusions of gamma-globulin. Of the 48 patients, 5 had coronary artery lesions. Serum concentrations of p60 sTNF-R and TNF-alpha were measured by a sandwich enzyme immunoassay. Patients with Kawasaki disease had increased serum levels of p60 sTNF-R. We found a positive correlation between serum levels of p60 sTNF-R and levels of TNF alpha during acute Kawasaki disease. Moreover, patients with coronary artery lesions had higher levels of sTNF-R than did those without coronary artery lesions. Our findings indicate that p60 sTNF-R levels in serum may be useful for determining the severity of vascular damage during acute Kawasaki disease, and that patients with Kawasaki disease and high sTNF-R levels seem to be susceptible to coronary artery lesions even if they receive therapy with intravenous infusions of gamma-globulin.
Furukawa
S
S
Department of Pediatrics, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Japan.
Matsubara
T
T
Umezawa
Y
Y
Okumura
K
K
Yabuta
K
K
D000208:Acute Disease; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008457:Measles / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000032:analysis*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D002097:C-Reactive Protein