title: Circulating V(alpha24+) Vbeta11+ NKT cell numbers are decreased in a wide variety of diseases that are characterized by autoreactive tissue damage.
abstract: Natural killer T (NKT) cells have been implicated as playing an important role in regulating immune responses. Defects in the NKT cell population were reported in animal autoimmune disease models and in distinct human autoimmune diseases. Here, we report that circulating V(alpha24+) Vbeta11+ NKT cell numbers are decreased in a broad variety of disorders with (auto)immune-mediated pathology, affecting the skin, bowel, central nervous system, and joints, regardless of disease duration or activity. Remarkably, normal circulating V(alpha24+) Vbeta11+ NKT cell numbers were found in Graves disease and coeliac disease. Since earlier studies noted a rise in NKT cells in myasthenia gravis, the picture emerges in which a defective NKT cell population is associated with autoreactive tissue damage rather than with the propensity to develop autoimmune disease. The present data support the idea that therapies aiming at the in vivo expansion of regulatory NKT cells might help to control immune-mediated damage in autoimmune disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, University Hospital Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1117, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: van der Vliet
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: von Blomberg
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nishi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reijm
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Voskuyl
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: van Bodegraven
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Polman
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rustemeyer
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lips
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van den Eertwegh
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Giaccone
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Scheper
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Pinedo
mesh_terms: D018949:Antigens, CD1 / Q000276:immunology*; D004194:Disease; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D018949:Antigens, CD1; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta