Objective To investigate the effects of sIL-2R in plasma on regulatory T cells (Treg) in children with Kawasaki disease ( KD ) .Methods Thirty-three children with KD and fourteen age-matched healthy children were enrolled in this study .The proportions of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cells in pe-ripheral blood and mean fluorescence intensity (MFI) of phosphorylated-STAT5 (pSTAT5) protein in CD4+CD25+T cells were analyzed by flow cytometry .The concentrations of sIL-2R, IL-2, IL-7 and IL-15 in plas-ma were measured by cytometric bead array ( CBA ) .Real-time PCR was performed to detect the gene ex-pressions of Foxp3, GITR, CTLA4, IL-2Rα, IL-2Rβand IL-2Rγat mRNA level as well as the expressions of IL-17A and ROR-γt at mRNA level in CD4+CD25-T cells.Results (1) Compared with the control group, the proportions of CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cells in peripheral blood from patients with KD and the expressions of associated factors including Foxp 3, GITR and CTLA-4 at mRNA level were significantly down-regulated (P<0.05).However,the expressions of IL-17A and ROR-γt at mRNA level in Th17 cells were markedly up-regulated (P<0.05), which could be recovered to some extent after treatment with IVIG (P<0.05).(2)The expressions of pSTAT5 protein in CD4+CD25+T cells from patients with acute KD were sig-nificantly decreased (P<00.5 ), but increased with IVIG intervention (P<0.05).(3)The concentrations of sIL-2R in plasma were elevated during acute KD (P<0.05), but decreased after treatment with IVIG (P<0.05).Moreover, KD patients with coronary artery lesion ( KD-CAL+) presented a high level of sIL-2R than those without coronary artery lesion (KD-CAL-) (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the concentrations of IL-2, IL-7 and IL-15 in plasma between two groups (P>0.05).(4)The expressions of IL-2Rαand IL-2Rβat mRNA level in CD4+CD25+T cells from patients with acute KD were lower than those of the healthy subjects (P<0.05), but up-regulated to some extent with IVIG treatment (P<0.05).There was no significant change in the expression of IL-2Rγat mRNA level (P>0.05).The concentrations of sIL-2R in plasma were negatively correlated with the expressions of IL-2Rβand Foxp3 at mRNA level and pSTAT5 at protein level (P<0.05).The expression of pSTAT5 protein had positive correlation with the ex-pression of Foxp3 at mRNA level (P<0.05).Conclusion Aberrant IL-2/STAT5 signaling pathway media-ted by significantly increased concentration of sIL-2R in plasma might be one of the factors leading to down-regulation of Treg cells in patients with acute KD .

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of mallet needle plus acupuncture in treating stiff neck. Method Eighty patients with stiff neck were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 40 cases each. The treatment group received mallet needle therapy plus acupuncture and the control group, acupuncture alone, for three consecutive days. In the two groups, the Pain Rating Index (PRI) score and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score were recorded before and after treatment and the clinical therapeutic effects were evaluated after treatment. Result The PRI score and the VAS score decreased in both groups after treatment compared with before (P<0.05) and decreased more in the treatment group than in the control group at the end of treatment (P<0.05). The total efficacy rate was 95.0% in the treatment group and 87.5% in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion Mallet needle therapy plus acupuncture is more effective than acupuncture alone in treating stiff neck.