1. Leukotriene B4 and Kawasaki disease.
- Author
-
Hamasaki Y and Miyazaki S
- Subjects
- Child, Child, Preschool, Convalescence, Coronary Aneurysm metabolism, Female, Humans, Immunoglobulins, Intravenous immunology, Infant, Leukotriene B4 biosynthesis, Leukotriene B4 immunology, Male, Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome immunology, Neutrophils metabolism, Leukotriene B4 physiology, Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome metabolism
- Abstract
The role of LTB4 in Kawasaki disease as a chemo-attractant and immunomodulator is reviewed through our own experience and reports by other investigators. In our experiment using 19 patients, we measured calcium ionophore-stimulated LTB4 synthesis in PMNs obtained in three different stages of the illness (acute, convalescent and recovered phases). LTB4 synthesis was significantly increased in the convalescent phase of the illness. Other investigators showed increased serum-LTB4 concentration in acute as well as convalescent phases, suggesting that LTB4 participated in the inflammatory process of Kawasaki disease as an inflammatory mediator and immunomodulator. However, no difference was found in LTB4 synthetic activity in PMNs in any phases of the illness between the patients with and without coronary lesions, which indicated that LTB4 was not a parameter of coronary aneurysm formation. Therapeutic use of high-dose gamma-globulin showed a tendency to decreased LTB4 synthesis in PMNs, although it is not conclusive.
- Published
- 1991
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