SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Microorganisms in Vertebrate Digestive Systems
This article is part of the Research TopicNew and advanced mechanistic insights into the influences of the infant gut microbiota on human health and disease, Volume IIView all 14 articles
The characteristics of the gut microbiota in patients with Kawasaki disease: A systematic review
Provisionally accepted
- Sichuan University West China Second University Hospital, Chengdu, China
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The gut-vascular axis has emerged as a critical focus of research, with accumulating evidence suggesting distinct alterations in intestinal microbiota among patients with Kawasaki disease (KD). However, no systematic review to date has comprehensively characterized gut microbial dysbiosis in this population. This systematic review aimed to investigate changes in gut microbiota composition in KD patients. A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library databases was conducted, and the study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. All reported taxa were re-annotated according to the SILVA 138 database. Seven studies were enrolled in our review. In acute-phase KD, reduced α-diversity and significant β-diversity divergence were observed compared to healthy controls (HCs). Concurrently, taxa with potential short-chain fatty acid (SCFA)-linked protective functions showed diminished abundance, including Bacteroidota, Bacteroides, Roseburia, Faecalibacterium, Blautia, Dialister, Lachnospira and Prevotella, while opportunistic pathogens such as Enterococcus were enriched in acute-phase KD cohorts. In non-acute KD patients, β-diversity remained distinct, with reduced abundance of the SCFA-producing genus Blautia. These findings suggest that gut microbiota dysbiosis may be associated with KD pathogenesis via immunomodulatory pathways, although the mechanistic insights remain to be elucidated.
Keywords: Gut Microbiota, kawasaki disease, Illumina sequencing, Gut-vascularaxis, Children
Received: 30 Sep 2025; Accepted: 27 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Liu, Qiao, Liu, Yu, Wang, Wang and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Weiran Li
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