Abstract
A surplus of cytokine production and an overreaction ofhistiocytes and macrophages that lead to necrosis
are considered to be possibly associated with subacute necrotizing lymphadenitis（Kikuchi－Fujimoto disease），
but descriptions in the pediatric literature are sparse． To better understand this disease in children we investigated
their cytokine profiling and immunohistochemical staining． The serum levels of IL-6， IFN-γ， MIP-13 and TNF-α
were significantly high compared with those of the controls． On immunohistochemical staining， cytotoxic T
cells mainly infiltrated the necrotic area． Extremely high levels of IFN-γ suggest that chronic viral infection had
occurred， and chemokines might have increased due to inflammation after infection． There was no significant
difference in serum cytokines between in SLE and subacute necrotizing lymphadenitis． From these findings long-term
-follow up is recommended．
