Kawasaki disease differs from anaphylactoid purpura and measles with regard to tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin 6 in serum.

It has been reported that tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is capable of inducing vascular injury, and interleukin 6 (IL-6) of inducing production of acute phase proteins and the maturation of megakaryocytes. Kawasaki disease (KD) is a systemic vasculitis with severe inflammation. We investigated whether TNF-alpha and IL-6 activities in serum from patients with KD differs from those in anaphylactoid purpura (AP) and measles. Serum TNF-alpha levels were measured by a sandwich enzyme immunoassay and IL-6 activities in serum were assessed by a colorimetric assay. Both KD and AP patients but not patients with measles had increased serum TNF-alpha levels during the acute stage. With respect to IL-6, patients with KD and measles, but not AP, had increased IL-6 activities in serum during the acute stage. IL-6 activities in serum of KD patients correlated with serum C-reactive protein levels and correlated to some extent with maximum platelet counts during the course of illness. These results suggest that KD differs from AP and measles regarding both cytokines. The combination of TNF-alpha, which may be responsible for severe vascular injury, and IL-6, which may be responsible for severe inflammation, may play an important role in acute KD.