Shadman M, Ajami A, Rafiei A, Hussein-Nattaj H, Hosseini V, Taghvaei T, et al . Phenotypic evaluation of natural killer (NK) and natural killer T (NKT)-like cells in patients with peptic ulcer and gastric cancer caused by Helicobacter pylori infection. J Mazandaran Univ Med Sci 2014; 23 (110) :165-173
URL:
http://jmums.mazums.ac.ir/article-1-3385-en.html
Abstract: (10342 Views)
Background and purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the proportion of natural killer (NK) and natural killer T (NKT)-like cells in dyspeptic disorders caused by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori).
Materials and methods: In a case-control study, 27 patients with gastric cancer (GC), 25 patients with peptic ulcer (PUD), and 22 patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia (NUD) were enrolled. After endoscopic diagnosis, the proportions of NK cells subsets (CD3-CD56+ and CD3-CD16+), as well as NKT-like cells (CD3+CD56+) in peripheral blood were determined by flow cytometry. The frequency of CD8+ and CD8– NK cell subsets were also determined.
H. pylori infection was confirmed in all study subjects using the rapid urease test and histopathology.
Results: The frequencies of CD3-CD16+ NK, CD3-CD56+ NK, and CD3+CD56+ NKT-like cells in patients with gastric cancer infected by H. pylori were significantly lower than those in patients with non-ulcer dyspepsia
(P < 0.001, P = 0.050, and P = 0.020, respectively). However, these cell populations showed no significant difference between the PUD and NUD groups. Further analysis showed that high numbers of CD8– NK cells in the blood were CD56+ and CD16+ phenotypes.
Conclusion: This study showed decreased numbers of NK and NKT-like cell populations in patients with gastric cancer compared to those with non-ulcer dyspepsia. It is thus suggested that these cells may limit the prolonged inflammation by H. pylori, which, in turn, reduce the risk of gastric cancer.