Lymphocyte hydrogen sulfide production predicts intravenous immunoglobulin resistance in children with Kawasaki disease A preliminary, single-center, case-control study

The aim of the study was to identify whether lymphocyte hydrogen sulfide production is a potential biomarker to predict intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) resistance in children with Kawasaki disease (KD). This preliminary, single-center, case-control study conducted between June 2016 and March 2018 in Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, 85 children (50 with KD and 35 healthy controls) were included. Laboratory biomarkers were collected from the medical records. All patients with KD received 1 g/kg/d IVIG for 2 days and 30-50 mg/kg/d oral aspirin. The aspirin dose was reduced from 3 to 5 mg/kg/d after body temperature normalized. Plasma hydrogen sulfide levels were detected using sulfide electrode. Lymphocyte hydrogen sulfide levels were detected using the human hydrogen sulfide ELISA kits at the acute stage. Of 50 patients with KD, 31 and 19 were diagnosed with complete KD (cKD) and incomplete KD (iKD), respectively. Eleven patients with KD were resistant to IVIG treatment. The laboratory biomarker findings and levels of plasma and lymphocyte hydrogen sulfide were significantly different between the patients with KD and control group (P < .001). Moreover, lymphocyte hydrogen sulfide production was significantly greater in IVIG-resistant patients than in the IVIG-responsive patients, both in cKD and iKD (P = .018 and P < .001 respectively). Receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that when the lymphocyte hydrogen sulfide production was >15.285 nmol/min/10⁸ lymphocytes, the sensitivity and specificity for predicting IVIG resistance were 90.9% and 76.9%, respectively. Lymphocyte hydrogen sulfide production could serve as a predictor of the therapeutic efficacy of IVIG in children with KD.