Background: Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology that occurs predominantly in infants and children, and the most crucial complication of KD is coronary artery aneurysm (CAA). Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like protein 1A (TL1A) is a member of the TNF superfamily, which possesses the ability of maintaining vascular homeostasis and regulating immune response. This study aims to examine the serum TL1A levels in KD patients, and to investigate the relationship between TL1A and CAAs in children with KD.
Methods: Blood samples were recruited from 119 KD patients, 35 febrile controls (FCs) and 37 healthy controls (HCs). The KD group was further divided into KD with CAAs (KD-CAAs) and KD non-CAAs (KD-NCAAs) groups. Serum TL1A levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and clinical parameters were collected in KD patients.
Results: Serum TL1A levels in the acute phase of KD patients were significantly higher than that in the FC and HC groups. In particular, serum TL1A were substantially increased in the KD-CAA group than that in the KD-NCAA group. Furthermore, TL1A levels were positively correlated with the duration of fever, time point of IVIG and WBC levels, but negatively correlated with levels of RBC, Hb and Albumin in the KD group.
Conclusions: TL1A might be involved in the KD-associated vasculitis, and might be a factor in the development process of CAAs.