Natural killer cell activity in atopic dermatitis: a sequential study

Abstract

Summary It is well‐recognized that patients with atopic dermatitis handle certain cutaneous viral infections poorly. As natural killer (NK) cell activity is considered to contribute to the immune response to viral infection, seven young adults with atopic dermatitis had their NK cell function assessed over a 12‐month period. Natural killer cell activity was found to correlate inversely with disease activity. The more active the disease, the greater was the reduction in NK cell function (P<0.01). In addition, a strong correlation between clinical activity and IgE was shown (P<0.001).

Natural killer and interleukin‐2 induced cytotoxicity in asthmatics

“…These observations confirm recent results of Timonen et al, (20), However, IgE-mediated allergy (initially presented as atopie dermatitis) has been shown to have strongly suppressed NK activity (11,12), These observations suggest that there might be qualitative and/or quantitative differences in these types of allergy in respect to cell-mediated immunity. These observations confirm recent results of Timonen et al, (20), However, IgE-mediated allergy (initially presented as atopie dermatitis) has been shown to have strongly suppressed NK activity (11,12), These observations suggest that there might be qualitative and/or quantitative differences in these types of allergy in respect to cell-mediated immunity.…”

“…Cytotoxicity of LAK cells has been suggested to include allogeneic, autologous tumor cells and hapten-modifled autologous cells (6,16,19). Because of the evident discrepancy of data on NK activity in IgE-mediated allergies in the literature (11,12,20) and the lack of information on LAK activity in this study we investigated these indices. Because of the evident discrepancy of data on NK activity in IgE-mediated allergies in the literature (11,12,20) and the lack of information on LAK activity in this study we investigated these indices.…”

Characterisation of lymphocyte subpopulations in the skin and circulation of horses with sweet itch (Culicoides hypersensitivity)

“…In contrast, Hsieh (1992) found that CD4+ T-lymphocyte numbers were reduced and CD8+ T-lymphocytes increased. Others have reported a reduction in CD8+ cytotoxic cell numbers, as well as decreases in the number and function of natural killer cells (Leung et al 1981;Zachary and MacDonald 1983;Lever et al 1985;Fennerty et al 1988;Kagi et al 1994). The CD4+/CD8+ ratio has also been reported to be significantly higher in allergic than normal individuals during allergen challenge, and a significant correlation between the CD4+/CD8+ ratio and clinical signs has been demonstrated (Leung et al 198 1 ;Fennerty et al 1988;Monteseirin et al 1995).…”

Atopic Dermatitis — The Skin Manifestation of Atopy

“…In addition to cell-mediated defects of the T cell arm, defects in monocyte and neutrophil chemotaxis were observed [16.17] and may be implicated in the enhanced susceptibility of the patients to infections, particularly with Staphylococcus aurcus [1,18]. However, most of these 'abnormalities' normalized during remission of the disease [13,17,19,20]. Therefore, it appears likely that these changes represent epiphenomena of inflammation, rather than signs of immune deficiency.…”