Independent skewing of the T cell and NK cell compartments associated with cytomegalovirus infection suggests division of labor between innate and adaptive immunity.Show others and affiliations
2014 (English)In: Age (Omaha), ISSN 0161-9152, E-ISSN 1574-4647, Vol. 36, no 2, p. 571-582Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection induces profound changes in different subsets of the cellular immune system. We have previously identified an immune risk profile (IRP) where CMV-associated changes in the T cell compartment, defined as a CD4/CD8 ratio < 1, are associated with increased mortality in elderly people. Since natural killer (NK) cells have an important role in the defense against viral infections, we examined whether the expansion of CD8 + T cells seen in individuals with CD4/CD8 ratio < 1 is coupled to a parallel skewing of the NK cell compartment. A number of 151 subjects were examined with CMV serology and a flow cytometry panel for assessment of T cell and NK cell subsets. CMV-seropositive individuals had higher frequencies of CD57 + and NKG2C + NK cells and lower frequencies of NKG2A + NK cells, in line with a more differentiated NK cell compartment. Intriguingly, however, there was no correlation between CD4/CD8 ratio and NK cell repertoires among CMV-seropositive donors, despite the profound skewing of the T cell compartment in the group with CD4/CD8 ratio < 1. Conversely, donors with profound expansion of NK cells, defined as NKG2C + NK cells with high expression of CD57 and ILT-2, did not display more common changes in their T cell repertoire, suggesting that NK cell expansion is independent of the T cell-defined IRP. Altogether, these results indicate that the effect of CMV on CD8 T cells and NK cells is largely nonoverlapping and independent.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2014. Vol. 36, no 2, p. 571-582
Keywords [en]
Cytomegalovirus, Immunosenescence, Immune risk profile, Natural killer cells
National Category
Geriatrics Gerontology, specialising in Medical and Health Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-22689DOI: 10.1007/s11357-013-9587-yISI: 000333048600007PubMedID: 24065293Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84898630754OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-22689DiVA, id: diva2:678731
2013-12-122013-12-122018-01-11Bibliographically approved