Study of Natural Cytotoxicity Receptors in Patients with HIV/AIDS and Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study.
Authors:
Terra Junior, Orlando Nascimento Maldonado, Gabriel de Carvalho Alfradique, Guilherme Rohem Lisboa, Vinicius da Cunha ArnĂ³bio, Adriano de Lima, Dirce Bonfim Diamond, Hilda Rachel de Souza, Maria Helena Faria Ornellas
Citation:
Terra Junior ON, etal., ScientificWorldJournal. 2016;2016:2085871. doi: 10.1155/2016/2085871. Epub 2016 Jun 13.
The NCR receptors play a fundamental role in the cytotoxicity mediated by NK cells against tumor cells. In the current study, we investigated possible HIV/AIDS-related changes in the expression of the NCR receptors comparing healthy donors, HIV/AIDS patients, and HIV/AIDS patients with cancer (HIV/AIDSWC). The NCRs were quantified in NK cells (NK(dim) and NK(bright)) and T lymphocytes from peripheral blood samples by flow cytometry. We found a significant decrease in the frequency of NK cells expressing NKp46 in HIV/AIDS group (p = 0.0012). There was a decrease in the frequency of NK cells expressing NKp46 in the HIV/AIDSWC group; however, this was not statistically significant. We found a significant decrease in the frequency of NK cells expressing NKp30 in the HIV/AIDS group (p = 0.0144). There was a decrease in the frequency of NK cells expressing NKp30 and in the HIV/AIDSWC group, but this was not statistically significant. There were no changes in the distribution of NK cells and their subtypes in both groups.