title: Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy induces neutrophil apoptosis in Kawasaki disease.
abstract: To investigate the effect of high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) on neutrophil apoptosis in Kawasaki disease (KD), we studied the in vitro spontaneous and IVIg-induced apoptosis of neutrophils by analyzing a proportion of annexin V-positive cells and cells with fragmented DNA. The mean number of peripheral neutrophils in the post-IVIg phase decreased significantly (P < 0.01) compared with that in the pre-IVIg phase. The mean proportion of spontaneous apoptotic neutrophils in the post-IVIg phase was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that in the pre-IVIg phase, and there was a significantly positive correlation (P < 0.01) with the reduction ratio of the circulating neutrophil counts from the pre-IVIg through the post-IVIg phases. IVIg induced a dose-dependent increase in the proportion of apoptotic neutrophils in the pre-IVIg phase. As a result, the present study demonstrated a novel action in which high-dose IVIg therapy decreased the number of circulating neutrophils by accelerating their apoptosis in KD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Saitama 359-8513, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsujimoto
authors.forename: Seiichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takeshita
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakatani
authors.forename: Youichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Tomoharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tokutomi
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sekine
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D007223:Infant; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D019014:fas Receptor / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D016756:Immunoglobulins, Intravenous; D019014:fas Receptor