Effect of intravenous gamma-globulin on neutrophil function in Kawasaki disease.

The effect of intravenous gamma-globulin (IVGG) on the neutrophil count and neutrophil chemiluminescence (CL) of patients with Kawasaki Disease (KD) was investigated. Forty patients with KD were enrolled in the study. Ten patients were treated with 100 mg/kg/day of gamma-globulin for five days (GG 100 group) and 14 patients were treated with 400 mg/kg/day of gamma-globulin (GG 400 group) for five days. These patients also took aspirin. Sixteen patients were treated with aspirin alone (ASA group). The neutrophil counts were significantly lower in the GG 400 and GG 100 groups than in the ASA group, three days, and one and two weeks after the start of treatment. Neutrophil CL of the GG 400 and GG 100 groups was significantly lower than in the ASA group one and two weeks after the start of treatment. In the in vitro study, gamma-globulin had a dose-dependent suppressive effect on the neutrophil CL in the early stage. Albumin had similar effects. The suppressive effect of gamma-globulin on CL was not specific. These findings suggest that IVGG is effective in reducing the production of active oxygen which is considered responsible for the vascular damage in the early stage of KD.