title: Circulating activated innate lymphoid cells and mucosal-associated invariant T cells are associated with airflow limitation in patients with asthma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A variety of innate subsets of lymphoid cells such as natural killer (NK) cells, several populations of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), and mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells as innate-like T lymphocytes are involved in asthma and may have important effector functions in asthmatic immune responses. In the present study, we investigated whether NK cells, ILCs, and MAIT cells in the peripheral blood of patients with asthma would be associated with clinical asthma parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  We recruited 75 adult patients with mild to severe asthma. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells in peripheral venous blood samples from the patients were purified and stained with different combinations of appropriate antibodies. The cells were analyzed by flow cytometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The percentage of activated (i.e., CD69+) NK cells in the total NK cell population was negatively correlated with FEV1% which is calculated by the forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/the forced vital capacity (FVC). The percentages of CD69+ILC1s and ILC2s were negatively correlated with FEV1% and %FEV1. The percentage of CD69+ILC3s was positively correlated with BMI, and the percentage of CD69+MAIT cells was negatively correlated with FEV1%. Moreover, the percentage of CD69+NK cells, ILC1s, ILC2s, ILC3s, and MAIT cells were positively correlated with each other.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For the first time, our data showed that activated NK cells, ILC1s, ILC2s, ILC3s, and MAIT cells were positively correlated with each other and may be associated with airflow limitation in patients with asthma.
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Ayako
authors: A
authors: Ishimori
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Research Institute for Diseases of Old Ages, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Atopy (Allergy) Research Center, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: nor@juntendo.ac.jp.
authors: Norihiro
authors: N
authors: Harada
authors: Department of Immunology, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Asako
authors: A
authors: Chiba
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Research Institute for Diseases of Old Ages, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Sonoko
authors: S
authors: Harada
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Kei
authors: K
authors: Matsuno
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Fumihiko
authors: F
authors: Makino
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Jun
authors: J
authors: Ito
authors: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Saga Medical School, Saga, Japan.
authors: Shoichiro
authors: S
authors: Ohta
authors: Shino-Test Corporation, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors: Junya
authors: J
authors: Ono
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Ryo
authors: R
authors: Atsuta
authors: Division of Medical Biochemistry, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Saga Medical School, Saga, Japan.
authors: Kenji
authors: K
authors: Izuhara
authors: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
authors: Kazuhisa
authors: K
authors: Takahashi
authors: Department of Immunology, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: s-miyake@juntendo.ac.jp.
authors: Sachiko
authors: S
authors: Miyake
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015415:Biomarkers; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000072336:Mucosal-Associated Invariant T Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D012123:Pulmonary Ventilation; D012129:Respiratory Function Tests; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; C512835:POSTN protein, human
keywords: Airflow limitation; Asthma; Innate lymphoid cell; Mucosal-associated invariant T cell; Natural killer cell