ABSTRACT
A case of a 5-year-old boy who fulfilled all the criteria for Kawasaki disease (KD) was described. He had associated bilateral coronary artery aneurysms. Our study revealed the isolation of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in stool cultures, and the elevation and seroconversion of the agglutination antibody titres, and hence he was diagnosed as Y. pseudotuberculosis infection-positive. We also demonstrated the positive mitogenic activity of the culture supernatant of the isolated bacterium from the patient and detected Y. pseudotuberculosis-derived mitogen by PCR. This case therefore suggests that Y. pseudotuberculosis might be closely related to the cause of KD.
Subject(s)
Coronary Aneurysm/complications , Coronary Disease/complications , Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome/complications , Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infections/complications , Angiography , Child, Preschool , Coronary Aneurysm/diagnosis , Coronary Disease/diagnosis , Humans , Male , Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome/diagnosis , SuperantigensABSTRACT
The sera from two patients with chronic neutropenia in infancy were examined for the presence of antineutrophil antibodies and their specificity against neutrophil antigen by using granulocyte indirect immunofluorescence test and microleukocyte agglutination test. In the microleukocyte agglutination test, the patients' sera reacted with neutrophils from their parents and normal unrelated donors having the neutrophil antigen NA1, but not with neutrophils from NA1- donors. After the absorption of patients' sera with NA1+ neutrophils, the antibody activity was completely abolished, resulting in the confirmation of the anti-NA1 antibody. In contrast, the granulocyte indirect immunofluorescence test showed positive reactions against both NA1+ and NA1- neutrophils, and the specificity for anti-NA1 was found in the results of the sera absorbed with NA1+ neutrophils. This suggested that the absorption experiment might be necessary to determine the specificity of the antibody for neutrophil antigen. Thus, we confirmed two cases with autoimmune neutropenia caused by anti-NA1 antibody. A combination of agglutination and immunofluorescence techniques would be recommended for investigation of neutrophil antibodies against the neutrophil-specific antigen.
