Depletion but Activation of CD56 dim CD16 +  NK Cells in Acute Infection with Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease with high mortality (12%-30%). The mechanism by which the SFTS bunyavirus (SFTSV) causes severe illness remains unclear. To evaluate the phenotypic and functional characteristics of the NK cell subsets in SFTS patie...

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Published inVirologica Sinica Vol. 35; no. 5; p. 588
Main Authors Li, Mengmeng, Xiong, Yan, Li, Mingyue, Zhang, Wenjing, Liu, Jia, Zhang, Yanfang, Xiong, Shue, Zou, Congcong, Liang, Boyun, Lu, Mengji, Yang, Dongliang, Peng, Cheng, Zheng, Xin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published China 01.10.2020
Subjects
SFTS index
Phenotypic of CD56dimCD16+ NK cells
NK cell subsets
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome Virus (SFTSV)
Function of CD56dimCD16+ NK cells
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Summary:Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease with high mortality (12%-30%). The mechanism by which the SFTS bunyavirus (SFTSV) causes severe illness remains unclear. To evaluate the phenotypic and functional characteristics of the NK cell subsets in SFTS patients, twenty-nine SFTS patients were sequentially sampled from admission until recovery. Phenotypic and functional characteristics of NK cell subsets in circulating blood were analysed via flow cytometry. Then, correlations between NK cell subset frequencies and the SFTS index (SFTSI) were evaluated in all SFTS patients (15 mild, 14 severe) upon admission. The frequencies of CD56 CD16  NK cells were greatly decreased in early SFTSV infection and were negatively correlated with disease severity. Additionally, higher Ki-67 and granzyme B expression and relatively lower NKG2A expression in CD56 CD16  NK cells were observed in acute infection. Moreover, the effector function of CD56 NK cells was increased in the acute phase compared with the recovery phase in nine severe SFTS patients. Additionally, interleukin (IL)-15, interferon (IFN)-α, IL-18 and IFN-γ secretion was markedly increased during early infection. Collectively, despite depletion of CD56 CD16  NK cells, activation and functional enhancement of CD56 CD16  NK cells were still observed, suggesting their involvement in defence against early SFTSV infection.
ISSN:1995-820X