title: Invariant natural killer (iNK) T cell deficiency in patients with common variable immunodeficiency.
abstract: Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a B cell immunodeficiency disorder characterized frequently by failure of memory B cell development and antibody secretion. A unifying cellular pathogenesis for CVID has not been forthcoming, but given the immunoregulatory role of invariant NK (iNK) T cells and their absence in several other immunodeficiencies, we quantified these cells in the blood of 58 CVID patients. There was a marked decrease in the proportion of iNK T cells in CVID patients compared with controls. This was particularly notable in those with low isotype-switched memory B cells, but subset analysis demonstrated no difference when stratified by specific clinical features. We propose that the decreased proportion of iNK T cells in CVID might be linked to the failure of memory B cell generation, which may contribute to reduced antibody production in these patients.
authors: Immunology Unit, Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, Sydney, NSW 2145, Australia. david_fulcher@wmi.usyd.edu.au
authors: D A
authors: DA
authors: Fulcher
authors: D T
authors: DT
authors: Avery
authors: N L
authors: NL
authors: Fewings
authors: L J
authors: LJ
authors: Berglund
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Wong
authors: D S
authors: DS
authors: Riminton
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Adelstein
authors: S G
authors: SG
authors: Tangye
mesh_terms: D000917:Antibody Formation; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D017074:Common Variable Immunodeficiency / Q000276:immunology*; D015925:Cryopreservation; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D017578:Immunoglobulin Class Switching; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D055611:Natural Killer T-Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors