Abstract
Polymerase activity has been reported in PBMC cxs of pts with KD (Nature 323:814, 1986). To further define its template specificity and persistence after clinical recovery and gammaglobulin (GG) therapy, we studied 89 cxs from 33 KD pts and 33 controls. Of the KD pts 23/33 (70%) showed RTA above the mean + 2 SD for control pts (5.6 picomoles dTMP incorporated). The mean peak RTA for KD PBMC ex supernatants was 8.2 pmoles ± 1.8 vs. 3.7 pmoles ± 0.5 for the controls (p<.05). GG therapy did not prevent expression of RTA which was detected 3-8 weeks post-treatment in cxs from 4/6 KD pts. RTA was detected in PBMC from pts as late as 9 years following acute KD. Co-cultivation of PBMC or cell-free supernatants from PBMC cxs with the HUT-78 cell line yielded RTA > control mean +2 SD (3.1 pmoles) in 14/18 (78%) attempts. Analysis of template/ primer specificity showed no increase in dTMP incorporation when assay conditions were altered to favor DNA pol I or terminal transferase. Duplicate assays to compare polyrA:oligodT vs. polyrC:oligodG showed comparable activity for the KD cxs. We conclude that the polymerase activity associated with the particulate fraction of supernatants from KD PBMC is consistent with RTA and can be detected late after recovery which suggests a retrovirus as the causative agent of KD.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Burns, J., Geha, R., Newburger, J. et al. REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE ACTIVITY (RTA) IN PERIPHERAL BLOOD MONONUCLEAR CELL (PBMC) CULTURES (CXS) FROM PATIENTS (PTS) WITH KAWASAKI DISEASE (KD). Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 323 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00934
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00934