title: Raised serum interleukin 15 levels in Kawasaki disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interleukin (IL)15 is a novel cytokine that induces T cell proliferation, B cell maturation, natural killer cell cytotoxicity, and may have a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory disease, acting upstream from tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha). Kawasaki disease (KD) is an inflammatory disease, in which serum levels of inflammatory cytokines such as TNFalpha and IL6 are increased.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the serum levels of IL15 in KD and to evaluate the role of IL15 in estimating the severity of inflammation in KD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a significant increase in the mean (SD) serum levels of IL15 measured in the acute stage of KD (11.5 (5.8) pg/ml) compared with those in the subacute stage (1.3 (0.9) pg/ml) (p<0.01) and normal controls (0.9 (1.0) pg/ml) (p<0.01). The increase in IL15 correlated with the increase in TNFalpha (r(s)=0.66, p<0.01); however it did not correlate with the levels of erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C reactive protein, suggesting that IL15 may not be a useful marker in estimating the severity of inflammation in KD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Yonsei University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: G-C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: H-Y
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S-Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: D-S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019409:Interleukin-15 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009080:Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome / Q000097:blood*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D019409:Interleukin-15; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha