Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of Kawasaki disease on intestinal microbiota in children. Methods The V1~V2 variable region in 16S rRNA gene was amplified by PCR from fecal samples collected from affected with Kawasaki disease and matched healthy children, and analyzed for bacterial taxonomic content following high-throughput sequencing. Microbiota in affected and healthy children were compared by alpha diversity, beta diversity, linear discriminant analysis and LDA effect size analysis. Results The richness (Ace index, P<0.001) and structure (ANOSIM based on unweighted UniFrac distances，P<0.01) of the intestinal microbiota in the Kawasaki disease group had changed significantly. In particular, Lactobacillus (P<0.01), Veillonella (P<0.01), and Clostridium (P<0.001) were significantly diminished in affected children, while Bacteroides (P<0.05), Enterococcus (P<0.001), and Parabacteroides (P<0.001) were significantly expanded. Conclusions Dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota occurs in children with Kawasaki disease. This result provides a partial basis for the later Kawasaki disease microecology research.

Key words: Kawasaki disease, intestinal microbiota, children, high-throughput sequencing