Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
9252831 | Hepatology Research | 2005 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
Natural killer T (NKT) cells share features of both classical T cells and NK cells. NKT are heterogenous populations, and recognize glycolipids associated with CD1d molecule. We investigated Th1/Th2 cytokine production as well as frequency and phenotype of circulating NKT cells in 14 healthy subjects and in patients during therapy with type C chronic hepatitis (CH; 14 cases) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC; 13 cases). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained before and 2 weeks later interferon (IFN)/ribavirin and radiofrequency ablation therapy for CH and HCC, respectively. PBMC were cultured for 10 days with α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer) and interleukin-2 (IL-2). Frequencies and IFN-γ/IL-4 production of NKT cells were analyzed using flow cytometry. Intrahepatic lymphocytes were analyzed in seven CH patients with liver biopsy specimen. Prevalence of circulating Vα24+CD3+ T cells was 0.9 ± 0.9% of PBMC for controls and increased to 8.5 ± 8.9% (p < 0.001) in response to α-GalCel. Similar frequency and expansion were noted in CH. The frequency increased during therapy. The prevalence in HCC tended to be high compared to controls and response to α-GalCel was well. Although frequency of Vα24+Vβ11+CD3+ T cells was low in all groups, the distribution pattern was similar to Vα24+Vβ11âCD3+ T cells. Prevalence of CD56+CD3+ T cells was low independent of therapy in CH (2-3%) compared to 5.0 ± 4.0% of controls, although response to α-GalCel was not impaired. IFN-γ production of Vα24+CD3+ T cells did not differ among groups, but became greater after treatment in contrast to lowered IL-4 production. Frequencies of NKT populations were higher in liver than in peripheral blood. Our study suggests that CD1d-reactive T cells have distinct distribution in different populations and therapy for patients alters cytokine response of NKT cells.
Keywords
Related Topics
Health Sciences
Medicine and Dentistry
Gastroenterology
Authors
Akihiko Okumura, Tetsuya Ishikawa, Tadashi Maeno, Ken Sato, Minoru Ayada, Naoki Hotta, Taeko Yamauchi, Yoshitaka Fukuzawa, Shinichi Kakumu,