Expression of neutrophilic genes in patients diagnosed with Kawasaki disease and healthy controls

Kawasaki disease (KD) is considered the main contributor to acquired heart diseases in developed countries. However, the precise pathogenesis of KD remains unclear. Neutrophils played roles in KD. This study aimed to select hub genes in neutrophils in acute KD. mRNA microarray of neutrophils from four acute KD patients and three healthy controls was performed to screen differentially expressed mRNAs (DE-mRNAs). DE-mRNAs were analyzed and predicted by Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways, and protein-protein interaction networks. Real time-PCR was finally conducted to confirm the reliability and validity of the expression level of DE-mRNAs from blood samples of healthy controls and KD patients in both acute and convalescent stage. Venous blood (2 ml) was collected from the KD patients (n=4) and healthy controls (n=3) in EDTA-containing tubes and neutrophils were isolated within two hours using EasySep direct human neutrophil isolation kit. The total RNA was extracted using Total RNA Isolation Reagent.