Production and Expression of Gro-alpha and RANTES by Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Isolated from Patients with Kawasaki Disease and Measles

We investigated whether the production and gene expression of Gro-alpha and RANTES in Kawasaki disease differ in measles. Forty-two samples from 14 patients in different clinical stages of Kawasaki disease, eight samples from 8 patients in the acute stage of measles and seven samples from 7 healthy children were collected. The present study was performed using ELISA and RT-PCR for the productions and gene expression of the chemokines. The production of Gro-alpha was markedly elevated during the acute stage of measles compared with Kawasaki disease. Moreover, the expression of Gro-alpha was increased in every case of measles, but not in Kawasaki disease. The production of RANTES was elevated in the acute stage of both diseases when compared to the healthy control. However, the plasma RANTES level did not change significantly according to the clinical stages of Kawasaki disease. A correlation between the production and gene expression of RANTES and Gro-alpha was not found in Kawasaki disease. These results suggest that Kawasaki disease differs from measles with regard to Gro-alpha production and expression, but not RANTES. Gro-alpha might play an important role in the acute stage of measles, however not in Kawasaki disease. Further studies are needed to clarify the efficacy of Gro-alpha as a marker in measles.

Enhanced Serum Neutrophil Chemotactic Activity was Noted in Both Early and Late Asthmatic Responses During Lysine-Aspirin Bronchoprovocation Test in ASA-Sensitive Asthmatic Patients

To investigate the pathogenic mechanism of late asthmatic response in comparison to early asthmatic response, changes of serum neutrophil chemotactic activity (NCA) using the Boyden chamber method and histamine level using the automated fluorometric analyzer were observed in 13 aspirin (ASA)-sensitive asthma subjects (group I: 7 early responders and group II: 6 dual responders) during lysine aspirin bronch-oprovocation test (L-ASA BPT). Sera were collected before, and 30 min and 240 min after L-ASA BPT. Serum NCA increased significantly after 30 min (p=0.02) and decreased significantly at 240 min (p=0.02) in group I, while serum NCA of group II increased significantly at 30 min (p=0.04), tending to increase further up to 240 min with no statistical significance. NCA at 240 min in group II subjects was significantly higher than baseline NCA (p=0.02). The serum NCAs collected before and 240 min were significantly higher in group II than in group I (p<0.05, respectively). There were no significant changes in serum histamine levels during L-ASA BPT in both groups. NCA derived from mast cell may contribute to the development of early asthmatic response induced by L-ASA inhalation. There may be a possible involvement of NCA derived from mononuclear cells during late asthmatic response.