4311Decreased CD177 expression and its association with intravenous immunoglobulin resistance in Kawasaki disease

Abstract

Abstract Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common acute coronary vasculitis disease occurring in children. Its occurrence has been attributed to the combined effects of infection, genetics, and immunity. While the etiopathogenesis of KD remains unknown, we have performed a survey of global genetic DNA methylation status and transcripts expression in KD patients to address how they contribute to the pathogenesis of KD. Methods We recruited 148 participants for this study. The chip studies consisted of 18 KD patients that were analyzed prior to administering intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment and at least 3 weeks afterward, as well as 36 non-KD control subjects. We performed a separate cohort of 94 subjects to validate real-time quantitative PCR. Results According to the microarray study, CD177, a neutrophil surface molecule, appeared to be most significantly upregulated in KD patients compared to controls with epigenetic hypomethylation. After patients received IVIG treatment, CD177 mRNA levels decreased significantly. PCR validation indicated that the expression of CD177 is consistent with the Transcriptome Array 2.0 results. Furthermore, the area under the curve values of CD177 between KD patients and controls is 0.937. We also observed significantly higher CD177 levels in typical KD than incomplete presentation, which was associated with IVIG resistance in KD patients. Conclusion The present study is the first to highlight the epigenetic hypomethylation of an increased CD177 transcript during the acute stage of KD. Furthermore, the higher expression of CD177 in a typical presentation of KD patients and was related to IVIG resistance.