日本理化研究所研究人員日前宣布，他們發現了與川崎病發病有關的基因，這一基因只要出現微小差異，川崎病的發病風險就會大幅提高。

理化研究所基因組醫學研究中心發布公報說，該中心研究人員此前依靠全基因組掃描，發現有10個基因組區域與川崎病相關。在這次研究中，他們重點調查了其中的4號染色體上的區域，發現基因CASP3的一處單核苷酸多態性與川崎病的發病相關。他們分析了約900名川崎病患者和約1400名正常人的CASP3基因后發現，如果存在這處單核苷酸多態性，川崎病的發病風險就會提高至1.4倍。

單核苷酸多態性是指在基因組水平上由單個核苷酸變異所引起的脫氧核糖核酸（DNA）序列多態性。單核苷酸多態性與患特定的疾病有關。

在確定CASP3為川崎病發病相關基因后，研究小組表示，他們認為還有9個基因組區域也可能存在該病相關基因?；蚪M醫學研究中心研究員尾內善廣說，他們將調查是否還有其他的川崎病相關基因，從而弄清發病機理。

川崎病又稱皮膚黏膜淋巴結綜合征，是一種原因未明的小兒急性發熱出疹性疾病，主要表現為皮膚黏膜出疹、淋巴結腫大和多發性動脈炎。川崎病急性期可引起心肌炎、*炎，15％至20％的川崎病患者可能患上冠狀動脈瘤。日本每年約有1萬例川崎病新增病例。

Common variants in CASP3 confer susceptibility to Kawasaki disease
Yoshihiro Onouchi1,*, Kouichi Ozaki1, Jane C. Buns2,3,25, Chisato Shimizu2,3,25, Hiromichi Hamada4, Takafumi Honda4, Masaru Terai4, Akihito Honda5, Takashi Takeuchi6, Shoichi Shibuta6, Tomohiro Suenaga6, Hiroyuki Suzuki6, Kouji Higashi7, Kumi Yasukawa7, Yoichi Suzuki8, Kumiko Sasago8, Yasushi Kemmotsu9, Shinichi Takatsuki9, Tsutomu Saji9, Tetsushi Yoshikawa10, Toshiro Nagai11, Kunihiro Hamamoto12, Fumio Kishi13, Kazunobu Ouchi14, Yoshitake Sato15, Jane W. Newburger16,25, Annette L. Baker16,25, Stanford T. Shulman17,25, Anne H. Rowley17,25, Mayumi Yashiro18, Yoshikazu Nakamura18, Keiko Wakui19, Yoshimitsu Fukushima19, Akihiro Fujino20, Tatsuhiko Tsunoda21, Tomisaku Kawasaki22, Akira Hata8, Yusuke Nakamura23,24 and Toshihiro Tanaka1

1 Laboratory for Cardiovascular diseases, Center for Genomic Medicine RIKEN, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan, 2 Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA, 3 Rady Children's Hospital San Diego, CA 92093-0641, USA, 4 Department of Pediatrics, Tokyo Women's Medical University Yachiyo Medical Center, Yachiyo 276-8524, Japan, 5 Department of Pediatrics, Asahi General Hospital, Asahi 289-2511, Japan, 6 Department of Pediatrics, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama 641-0012, Japan, 7 Department of Pediatrics and 8 Department of Public Health, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba 260-8670, Japan, 9 Department of Pediatrics, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo 143-8541, Japan, 10 Department of Pediatrics, Fujita Health University, Toyoake 470-1192, Japan, 11 Department of Pediatrics, Dokkyo Medical University, Koshigaya Hospital, Koshigaya 343-8555, Japan, 12 Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, International University of health and welfare, Fukuoka 831-8501, Japan, 13 Department of Molecular Genetics and 14 Department of Pediatrics, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki 701-0192, Japan, 15 Department of Pediatrics, Fuji Heavy Industry LTD, Health Insurance Society General Ohta Hospital, Ohta 373-8585, Japan, 16 Department of Cardiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA, 17 Department of Pediatrics, Feinberg School of Medicine Northwestern University, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL 60611, USA, 18 Department of Public Health, Jichi Medical School, Minamikawachi 329-0498, Japan, 19 Department of Preventive Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan, 20 Department of Surgery, National Center for Child Health and Development, Tokyo 157-8535, Japan, 21 Laboratory for Medical Informatics, Center for Genomic Medicine, RIKEN, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan, 22 Japan Kawasaki Disease Research Center, Tokyo 101-0041, Japan, 23 Laboratory for Molecular Medicine, Human Genome Center, Institute of Medical Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 108-8639, Japan, 24 Center for Genomic Medicine RIKEN, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan and 25 U. S. KD Genetics Consortium

Kawasaki disease （KD; OMIM 611775 [OMIM] ） is an acute vasculitis syndrome which predominantly affects small- and medium-sized arteries of infants and children. Epidemiological data suggest that host genetics underlie the disease pathogenesis. Here we report that multiple variants in the caspase-3 gene （CASP3） that are in linkage disequilibrium confer susceptibility to KD in both Japanese and US subjects of European ancestry. We found that a G to A substitution of one commonly associated SNP located in the 5' untranslated region of CASP3 （rs72689236; P = 4.2 x 10–8 in the Japanese and P = 3.7 x 10–3 in the European Americans） abolished binding of nuclear factor of activated T cells to the DNA sequence surrounding the SNP. Our findings suggest that altered CASP3 expression in immune effecter cells influences susceptibility to KD.