Activation And Clinical Significance Of The Complement System In Children With Kawasaki Disease

Objective： The study was designed to investigate the changes and clinicalsignificance of related factors in the complement system in children with Kawasakidisease (KD).Methods： Eighty-five patients hospitalized for KD, there are sixty-one in acute andfifty-six in subacute phase of KD（thirty-two in both phase at the same time）in thechildren’s hospital affiliated to the capital institute of pediatrics between March2011and November2013. The healthy control group (n=40) consisted of age and gendermatched children undergoing health examination in the same hospital. The febrilecontrol group (n=40) included children with pneumonia, but without KD or vasculitis.Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect plasma levels ofC1q, C5a, C4d, B factor, C5b-9, MASP-1and CD59. The inflammatory markers,such as C-reactive protein levels (CRP), total white blood cell counts (WBC) anderythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were recorded and the correlation betweenfactors in complement system and inflammatory markers were analyzed.Results： The plasma concentration of C1q,C5a,C4d,factor B,C5b-9,MASP-1concentrations were lower than those in the healthy control group, The plasmaconcentration of factor B, C5a in acute phase were lower than those in the febrilecontrol group (P <0.05). Compared with KD patients in acute phase, the plasmaconcentrations of factor B, C1q in KD patients significantly increased (P<0.05),however, C4d significantly decreased (P <0.05) in subacute phase. There was nosignificant corrections between plasma concentrations of factor B, C5a in KD andinflammatory factors in plasma (R <1).Conclusion： There was complement system activation in the process of Kawasakidisease, and the decreased factor B, C5a plasma concentrations might be as abiomarkers in the early stage of KD.