T Dong, X Huang, Y Han, J Zhu

Abstract

Kawasaki disease (KD) is an acute, self-limiting vascular inflammatory disease that primarily affects the small and medium arteries of the whole body, particularly the coronary arteries. About 25% of untreated KD children have coronary artery injury, which is mainly manifested as coronary artery dilatation (CAD), coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) and myocardial infarction. KD is now the leading cause of acquired heart disease in the developed world. Recent studies have demonstrated that non-coding RNA (ncRNA), especially microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and circular RNAs (circRNAs), are intimately associated with the onset and progression of numerous diseases. These studies have also indicated that ncRNAs may play an indispensable role in the pathogenesis of KD via differential expression and participation in the central pathogenesis of KD, which comprises the modulation of immunity, inflammatory response and vascular dysregulation. Despite the increasing number of studies examining the expression profile and functional mechanism of ncRNA in KD, the exact role of these molecules in the disease remains unclear. This review aims to synthesise the current opinion of the potential functions and potential mechanisms of miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs in KD based on existing studies.