title: V alpha 24+ natural killer T cells are markedly decreased in atopic dermatitis patients.
abstract: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a common inflammatory skin disease. In AD, cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-4 or interferon (IFN)-gamma are considered to affect the disease status. Recently, human V alpha 24(+) natural killer T (NKT) cells have been found to produce large amounts of IL-4 and IFN-gamma. Thus there is a possibility that the proportion of V alpha 24(+) NKT cells modifies the AD status. In this study, we examine the proportion of the V alpha 24(+)/V beta 11(+) cells that composes the V alpha 24(+) NKT cells in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 71 healthy donors (HDs) and 31 AD patients. Because CD4(-) and CD4(+) NKT subsets show different cytokine production patterns concerning IL-4, these two subsets are evaluated. Our results have shown that the proportion of the V alpha 24(+) NKT cells is markedly reduced in AD patients. In addition, the CD4(-) V alpha 24(+) NKT subset has a tendency to be more reduced than the CD4(+) V alpha 24(+) NKT subset. Moreover, the proportion of CD4(-) V alpha 24(+) NKT(+) cells and Th2 deviation of Th1/Th2 balance is inversely correlated. These observations may contribute to the understanding of the mechanism involved in AD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: Kunihiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tamaki
authors.forename: Hisamaru
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hirai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D002452:Cell Count; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000378:metabolism; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens; D015847:Interleukin-4; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D007371:Interferon-gamma