Objective:

To characterize the gut microbiota and metabolomic profiles in children with Kawasaki disease (KD) and assess their clinical relevance.

Key Findings:

• Reduced alpha diversity and microbial richness in KD children compared to healthy controls (p < 0.05).
• Increased abundance of pathogenic species (e.g., Enterococcus avium, Clostridioides difficile) in KD (p < 0.05).
• Decreased levels of beneficial species (e.g., Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Akkermansia muciniphila) in KD (p < 0.05).
• 49 metabolic pathways showed differential enrichment between KD and healthy controls (p < 0.05).
• Altered fecal and plasma metabolomes in KD, with specific metabolites elevated or reduced (p < 0.05).

Interpretation:

The study provides insights into the gut microbiome and metabolome alterations in KD, suggesting potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets for clinical application.

Limitations:

• Limited sample size may affect the generalizability of findings.
• Study conducted in a specific geographic region may not represent global KD variations.
• Lack of longitudinal data to assess changes over time.

Conclusion:

This multi-omics investigation establishes a foundational resource for understanding KD in children, highlighting the need for further research into therapeutic strategies and their clinical implications.