title: Decrease in the concentrations of transforming growth factor-beta 1 in the sera of patients with Kawasaki disease.
abstract: Kawasaki disease (KD) is one of the most important forms of vasculitis, and is characterized by the initiation of a proinflammatory cytokine cascade. To further characterize the immunological profile of KD, we measured the serum levels of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) as a regulatory cytokine. We determined the concentration of TGF-beta 1 in the sera of the patients with KD, anaphylactoid purpura (AP), and scarlet fever, using a sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. The serum levels of TGF-beta 1 were decreased in patients with KD, but not in patients with AP or scarlet fever during the acute stage. We found an inverse correlation between TGF-beta 1 and soluble tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor levels in KD patients during the acute and subacute stage. Decreased levels of TGF-beta 1, in particular to suppress TNF alpha (TNF-alpha) production, is an important part of the regulatory system of increased TNF-alpha production which cause vasculitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Juntendo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Umezawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsuru
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Motohashi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yabuta
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Furukawa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011695:IgA Vasculitis / Q000097:blood; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D012541:Scarlet Fever / Q000097:blood; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000097:blood*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D018124:Receptors, Tumor Necrosis Factor; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha