title: Redistribution of natural killer (NK) cell frequency and NK cytotoxic activity in primary IgA nephropathy.
abstract: Recent findings have indicated an imbalance of immune responsiveness in primary IgA nephropathy (IgAN). Thus natural killer (NK) cell frequency and NK cytotoxicity were evaluated in fifteen IgAN patients. CD8+, CD11+, CD56+ and CD57+ lymphocyte percentages in IgAN individuals fell within normal values, while a significant decrease of CD16+ cells was observed in the same group of patients. In contrast, NK activity overlapped that seen in controls as assessed by an agarose-single cell cytotoxic assay. To further investigate the discrepancy between CD16+ cell level and NK cytotoxic activity in IgAN, the proportion of CD11+ CD57+, CD56+ CD16+ and CD57+ CD16+ lymphocytes was determined. In spite of the unaffected CD56+ CD16+ cell frequency, IgAN subjects exhibited a significant decrease of CD11+ CD57+ and CD57+ CD16+ lymphocyte percentages in comparison to controls. It is suggested that a redistribution of NK lymphocyte subsets occurs in IgAN. This may have an important role in the impairment of the immunoregulatory network.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Antonaci
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Polignano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ottolenghi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tortorella
authors.forename: F P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Schena
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000032:analysis; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000032:analysis; D018845:CD11 Antigens; D018959:CD57 Antigens; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D005922:Glomerulonephritis, IGA / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011961:Receptors, Fc / Q000032:analysis; D017452:Receptors, IgG; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D018845:CD11 Antigens; D018959:CD57 Antigens; D011961:Receptors, Fc; D017452:Receptors, IgG