Higher concentrations of serum IL-22 and IL-17 were present in KD patients
To determine the function of different subsets of IL-22- and IL-17A-producing CD4+ T-cells, we measured the concentrations of serum IL-22, IL-17A and IFN-γ in the patients (Fig 2). We found that the concentrations of serum IL-22 and IL-17A in KD patients with CAL were significantly higher than that in KD patients with NCAL and HCs [IL-22 (18.59 ± 4.15) versus (13.65 ± 5.77) versus (8.57 ± 1.69), P<0.05, IL-17 (78.51 ± 22.37) versus (53.16 ± 16.35) versus (40.74 ± 11.68), P<0.05]. However, we did not find a significant difference in the concentrations of serum IFN-γ among the different groups of patients and HCs [(13.19 ± 4.23) versus (11.76 ± 2.77) versus (11.46 ± 3.96), P>0.05]. TNF-α is necessary for exacerbation of vascular injury in KD. We further analyzed the levels of TNF-α in the serum of KD patients and found a higher level of serum TNF-α in KD patients with CAL, compared to KD patients with NCAL and HC [(14.36 ± 3.85) versus (7.78 ± 3.21) versus (5.25 ± 2.01), P<0.05]. In addition, the concentrations of serum IL-6 in KD patients were significantly higher than that in the HCs [(8.96 ± 2.39) versus (8.49 ± 2.29) versus (3.73 ± 1.24), P<0.05].