title: Decreased interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma)-producing T cells in patients with acute Kawasaki disease.
abstract: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute febrile illness of early childhood, in which the activation of monocytes/macrophages plays a central role in the development of vasculitis during the acute stage of disease. In this study we investigated peripheral blood T cells of 10 patients with KD, focusing on the Th1 and Th2 imbalance, using intracellular cytokine staining and analysis of the cytokine-producing T cells by flow cytometry. We observed a decrease in the numbers of IFN-gamma-producing, but not IL-4-producing, CD3+ T cells, during the acute stage. Our results suggest that there is an imbalance of Th1 and Th2 subsets during the acute stage of KD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Yamaguchi University School of Medicine, Yamaguchi, Japan. tmatsu@po.cc.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koga
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Furukawa
mesh_terms: D017252:CD3 Complex / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000096:biosynthesis; D008297:Male; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D017252:CD3 Complex; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma