title: Decrease of intrathyroidal CD161+Valpha24+Vbeta11+ NKT cells in Graves' disease.
abstract: To clarify changes in the intrathyroidal natural killer T (NKT) cell subset, which prevents autoimmunity in patients with Graves' disease (GD), we examined intrathyroidal and peripheral lymphocytes in 11 patients with GD and peripheral lymphocytes in nine healthy volunteers using three-color flow cytometry. The proportion of CD161 (+) T cell receptor Valpha24 (+) Vbeta11 (+) cells, which represent the NKT cell subset, was lower in the thyroid of patients with GD than in the peripheral blood of the same patients and in the peripheral blood of healthy subjects. These results indicate that the proportion of intrathyroidal NKT cells is decreased in patients with GD and that this decrease may contribute to incomplete regulation of autoreactive T cells in GD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Informatics, Division of Health Science, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Mikio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Yukiyo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Matsuzuka
authors.forename: Yuuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takamura
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyauchi
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwatani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015536:Down-Regulation; D005260:Female; D006111:Graves Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D037181:Lectins, C-Type / Q000378:metabolism*; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055651:NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily B; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; C527203:KLRB1 protein, human; D037181:Lectins, C-Type; D055651:NK Cell Lectin-Like Receptor Subfamily B; D016693:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta