SEARCH FOR HIGHLY CONSERVED VIRAL AND BACTERIAL NUCLEIC-ACID SEQUENCES CORRESPONDING TO AN ETIOLOGIC AGENT OF KAWASAKI-DISEASE

The use of conventional methods to detect a possible infectious cause of Kawasaki disease (KD) has been unsuccessful. Using the polymerase c hain reaction and DNA hybridization techniques, we have sought evidenc e that a known or new herpesvirus, parvovirus, or bacterial pathogen i s related etiologically to KD. Peripheral blood DNA from acute KD pati ents was subjected to amplification and dot-blot hybridization to dete ct the presence of herpesvirus DNA, and acute KD peripheral blood and serum DNA were subjected to dot-blot hybridization for the presence of parvoviral DNA. All samples were negative for both herpesvirus and pa rvovirus DNA. In addition, we analyzed buffy-coat white blood cell DNA , synovial fluid DNA, and frozen autopsy and formalin-fixed, paraffin- embedded myocardial tissue DNA from KD patients for the presence of hi ghly conserved bacterial 16S ribosomal RNA gene sequences with the pol ymerase chain reaction, and all were negative. These results argue aga inst a direct pathogenic role for herpesviruses, parvoviruses, and bac teria in KD. This approach to the detection of highly conserved genomi c sequences among broad groups of microorganisms can be adapted for th e detection of other groups of microorganisms and may yet prove useful in the search for an etiologic agent of KD.