Kawasaki syndrome (KS) is characterized by diffuse vasculitis and marked T cell and B cell activation. In this study, sera from 16 patients with acute KS, 15 patients in the convalescent phase of KS, and 19 age-matched controls were assessed for complement dependent cytotoxic activity against 111In-labeled human umbilical vein endothelial (HUVE) cells, Neither sera from patients with KS nor sera from controls had cytotoxic effects on HUVE cells cultivated under standard conditions. Since activated T cells such as those present in acute KS secrete gamma interferon (gamma-IFN), we also examined the effects of sera from acute KS on HUVE cells preincubated with gamma-IFN. We report here that immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies in sera from patients with acute KS cause significant (P less than 0.01) killing of gamma-IFN-treated HUVE cells. Pretreatment with interleukin 2, gamma-IFN, or beta-IFN failed to render HUVE susceptible to lysis with acute KS sera. The observed effects were not mediated via immune complexes. The cytotoxic antibodies in acute KS seem to be directed against inducible monomorphic antigenic determinants present on gamma-IFN-treated HUVE cells but not on control or gamma-IFN treated autologous human dermal fibroblasts (HDF). Similarly, acute KS sera also induced lysis of gamma-IFN-treated human saphenous vein endothelial (HSVE) cells but not gamma-IFN treated human saphenous vein smooth muscle (HSVSM) cells. Since gamma-IFN induces the same level of class I and class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen expression on HDF, HUVE, HSVE, and HSVSM cells, our results suggest that the anti-endothelial cell antibodies in acute KS are directed to gamma-IFN-inducible molecules other than MHC determinants. These observations are further substantiated by the failure of human B cells or monocytes to absorb the anti-endothelial cell activity. Since most vasculitides, including acute KS, are characterized both by marked immune activation and the secretion of lymphokines, antibodies directed to gamma-IFN-inducible endothelial cell antigens may represent a general mechanism for vascular injury.
D Y Leung, T Collins, L A Lapierre, R S Geha, J S Pober
Usage data is cumulative from March 2024 through March 2025.
Usage | JCI | PMC |
---|---|---|
Text version | 229 | 1 |
61 | 27 | |
Scanned page | 391 | 4 |
Citation downloads | 65 | 0 |
Totals | 746 | 32 |
Total Views | 778 |
Usage information is collected from two different sources: this site (JCI) and Pubmed Central (PMC). JCI information (compiled daily) shows human readership based on methods we employ to screen out robotic usage. PMC information (aggregated monthly) is also similarly screened of robotic usage.
Various methods are used to distinguish robotic usage. For example, Google automatically scans articles to add to its search index and identifies itself as robotic; other services might not clearly identify themselves as robotic, or they are new or unknown as robotic. Because this activity can be misinterpreted as human readership, data may be re-processed periodically to reflect an improved understanding of robotic activity. Because of these factors, readers should consider usage information illustrative but subject to change.