Abstract
It is knownhat a spontaneous increase in IgE antibody is seen in the early stage of Kawasaki disease. Based on previous experiments of Candida extract-induced arteritis in mice, an investigation of the relationship between IgE antibody and the incidence of arteritis was carried out using the PCA method. It was confirmed that IgE antibody (PCA titer 1) was produced in response to two round immunization with alkali-extracted Candida antigen. It was also shown that the production of IgE antibody increased when Candida antigen was injected together with Bordetella pertussis vaccine. In this case, mice in a group which had B. pertussis vaccine in a first round immunization with Candida antigen showed higher IgE antibody titer than those in a group which had B. pertussis vaccine in a second round immunization. In each of three groups, the incidence of arteritis was 40%, 87% and 55% respecitvely. However, the mice in a group which only one round injection of a mixture of Candida antigen and B. pertussis vaccine showed neither PCA reaction nor incidence of arteritis. This result suggests that IgE antibody may be related to the incidence of arteritis.
The time course of IgE antibody production was also studied. The IgE antibody (PCA titer 20) appeared on the third day after the second round injection and reached a peak (PCA titer 80) on the 10th day, then decreased on the 24th day (PCA titer 1). It was also shown that the production of IgE antibody in this experiment resembled that in Kawasaki disease.
