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Polyclonal expansion of TCRBV2‐ and TCRBV6‐bearing T cells in patients with Kawasaki disease
Author(s) -
Takeshi Yoshioka,
Takaji Matsutani,
Shoji Iwagami,
Tomoko Toyosaki-Maeda,
Takashi Yutsudo,
Yuji Tsuruta,
Hiroyuki Suzuki,
Shigeru Uemura,
Takashi Takeuchi,
Masato Koike,
Ryuji Suzuki
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.297
H-Index - 133
eISSN - 1365-2567
pISSN - 0019-2805
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2567.1999.00695.x
Subject(s) - polyclonal antibodies , immunology , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , antibody , kawasaki disease , superantigen , cytokine , medicine , tumor necrosis factor alpha , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , t cell , immune system , biochemistry , in vitro , artery
We examined T‐cell receptor (TCR) usage, cytokine production and antibody responses to superantigens in patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) to facilitate a better understanding of the immunopathogenesis of KD. The mean percentage of VB2‐ or VB6.5‐bearing T cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with acute‐phase KD was significantly higher than that of patients in the convalescent phase of KD or in healthy donors. Expansion of VB2‐ or VB6.5‐bearing T cells was polyclonal because DNA sequences in the complementarity determining region 3 of VB2‐ and VB6.5‐positive cDNA clones were all different from each other. The plasma levels of interleukin (IL)‐1β, IL‐2, IL‐6, IL‐8, IL‐10, interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ), tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α) and granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor (G‐CSF) were elevated in the acute phase of KD. We previously reported that streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin C (SPEC) was a potent stimulator of VB2‐ and VB6.5‐positive T cells and, furthermore, serum levels of anti‐SPEC antibodies were significantly higher in patients with acute and convalescent KD than in age‐matched controls. The results of the present study, together with those of our previous report, suggest that SPEC induces activation and polyclonal expansion of VB2‐ and VB6.5‐positive T cells, and that SPEC‐induced activation of T cells may lead to the pathogenesis of KD.