Hahn Y, Kim Y, Jo S, Han H
Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Chungcheongbuk-Do, Korea.
Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2000 Aug;122(4):293-8. doi: 10.1159/000024412.
This study was performed to analyze the frequencies of peripheral interferon (IFN)-gamma-producing cells at the single-cell level and to determine concentrations of circulating IFN-gamma in the acute and subacute phases of Kawasaki disease (KD).
Ten patients with KD were studied and seven healthy children were selected as control subjects. Using immunofluorescent detection of intracellular IFN-gamma in CD4-positive and CD4-negative cells, the frequencies of IFN-gamma-producing cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells were studied. Circulating IFN-gamma levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
The frequencies of peripheral blood CD4+ and CD4- IFN-gamma-producing cells in acute-phase KD patients were significantly lower than in subacute-phase KD patients and control children (p < 0.05). CD4- cells, thought to be mainly composed of CD8+ cells, appeared to be more responsible for the reduced frequencies of total IFN-gamma-producing cells than CD4+ cells. There were, however, no differences in the frequencies of IFN-gamma-producing cells between KD patients in the subacute phase and control children. In contrast, serum IFN-gamma levels were higher in KD patients in the acute phase than in the subacute phase (p < 0.05).
The above results show increased levels of circulating IFN-gamma and decreased emergence of peripheral IFN-gamma-producing cells in acute KD patients, suggesting transient infiltration of activated IFN-gamma-producing cells into the inflammatory sites during acute KD. These findings also support the hypothesis that IFN-gamma plays an important role in the pathogenesis of KD-related vasculitis.
本研究旨在分析单细胞水平外周血干扰素（IFN）-γ产生细胞的频率，并测定川崎病（KD）急性期和亚急性期循环中IFN-γ的浓度。
研究了10例KD患者，并选取7名健康儿童作为对照。采用免疫荧光法检测CD4阳性和CD4阴性细胞内的IFN-γ，研究外周血单个核细胞中IFN-γ产生细胞的频率。采用酶联免疫吸附测定法测量循环中IFN-γ水平。
急性期KD患者外周血CD4+和CD4- IFN-γ产生细胞的频率显著低于亚急性期KD患者和对照儿童（p<0.05）。被认为主要由CD8+细胞组成的CD4-细胞，似乎比CD4+细胞对总IFN-γ产生细胞频率的降低负有更大责任。然而，亚急性期KD患者与对照儿童之间IFN-γ产生细胞的频率没有差异。相比之下，急性期KD患者的血清IFN-γ水平高于亚急性期（p<0.05）。
上述结果表明，急性KD患者循环中IFN-γ水平升高，外周血IFN-γ产生细胞出现减少，提示急性KD期间活化的IFN-γ产生细胞短暂浸润到炎症部位。这些发现也支持IFN-γ在KD相关血管炎发病机制中起重要作用的假说。
