title: Establishing the reference intervals of NK cell functions in healthy adults.
abstract: Natural killer (NK) cells play a key role in host defense against microbial pathogens. Establishing the reference intervals (RIs) of NK cell functions would be valuable in assessing the immune status of hosts. We evaluated the NK cell activity in healthy adults. We further established and validated the RIs of representative NK cell functions. Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the cytokine production and CD107a degranulation of NK cells. Levels of soluble IFN-γ in the culture supernatants were evaluated by ELISA. Our results demonstrated that the intracellular IFN-γ production of NK cells was positively correlated with CD107a expression and soluble IFN-γ levels. There were no significant differences in NK cell functions between different age and gender groups. The mean values and RIs of representative NK cell functions are as following: IFN-γ(+) NK cells (%): 28.09 (11.3-51.95); CD107a(+) NK cells (%): 17.90 (9.852-27.56); soluble IFN-γ (pg/ml): 330.4 (41.38-717.8). In addition, the intracellular IFN-γ production and degranulation activity of NK cells in patients with colorectal cancer were significantly lower than that in healthy adults. Our study has established the RIs of NK cell functions in healthy adults, which might be used for monitoring the immune status of the hosts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Hongyan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Lie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Transfusion, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Weiyong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Yanfang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Liyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: fengwang@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Laboratory, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. Electronic address: zysun@tjh.tjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ziyong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic / Q000592:standards*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012015:Reference Standards; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007371:Interferon-gamma
keywords: CD107a; IFN-γ; Natural killer cells; Reference intervals