Invariant natural killer (iNK) T cell deficiency in patients with common variable immunodeficiency

• Published in: Clinical and experimental immunology Vol. 157; no. 3; pp. 365 - 369
• Main Authors: Fulcher, D.A, Avery, D.T, Fewings, N.L, Berglund, L.J, Wong, S, Riminton, D.S, Adelstein, S, Tangye, S.G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2009; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Blackwell; Blackwell Science Inc
• Subjects: Analytical, structural and metabolic biochemistry; Antibody Formation; B cells; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; Biological and medical sciences; Case-Control Studies; common variable immunodeficiency; Common Variable Immunodeficiency - immunology; Cryopreservation; Flow Cytometry; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Immunoglobulin Class Switching; Immunologic Memory; Lymphocyte Activation; Lymphocyte Count; Natural Killer T-Cells - immunology; NK T cells; Statistics, Nonparametric; Time Factors; Translational Studies; Natural killer cell; Human; Immunopathology; Invariant natural killer T cell; Common variable immunodeficiency; Natural killer T cell; Deficiency; T-Lymphocyte; NK T cells; Biochemistry; B-Lymphocyte; B cells
• ISSN: 0009-9104; 1365-2249
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2009.03973.x

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.