IL-1 receptor antagonist, anakinra, prevents myocardial dysfunction in a mouse model of Kawasaki disease vasculitis and myocarditis.

ABSTRACT: Kawasaki disease (KD) vasculitis is an acute febrile illness of childhood characterized by systemic vasculitis of unknown origin, and is the most common cause of acquired heart disease among children in the United States. While  histological evidence of myocarditis can be found in all patients with acute KD, only a minority of patients are clinically symptomatic and a subset demonstrate echocardiographic evidence of impaired myocardial function, as well as increased left ventricular mass, presumed to be due to myocardial edema and inflammation. Up to a third of KD patients fail to respond to first-line therapy with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG), and the use of interleukin (IL)-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra, anakinra) is currently being investigated as an alternative therapeutic approac

SUBMITTER: Gorelik M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6718290 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature