Class II major histocompatibility antigen expression on coronary arterial endothelium in a patient with Kawasaki disease

To investigate the class II major histocompatibility antigen expression on coronary arterial endothelium of Kawasaki disease and immunophenotypes of the infiltrating cells in the coronary vascular lesions, myocardial sections from a patient who died during the acute stage of Kawasaki disease were studied using an immunoperoxidase technique. The mononuclear cells in the lesions mainly consisted of macrophages and T cells, whereas B cells and NK/K cells were not seen. The majority of T cells reacted with Leu-3a antibodies, and only a few reacted with Leu-2a antibodies. Cells bearing the interleukin-2 receptor, indicative of activated T cells, were also found in the lesions. To determine the distribution of class II antigen, we used anti-HLA-DR antibodies. The massive expression of HLA-DR antigen on mononuclear cells was found in the lesions. In addition, the HLA-DR activation antigen was expressed on the coronary arterial endothelium at the infiltrates in which macrophages and T cells coexisted. In contrast, coronary arterial endothelium did not express HLA-DR antigens in the myocardial tissues of controls (n = 4). HLA-DR+ endothelial cells may play an important role in the development of Kawasaki vasculitis.