Hepatic natural killer and natural killer T cells markedly decreased in two cases of drug-induced fulminant hepatic failure rescued by living donor liver transplantation.

The human liver contains significant numbers of innate immune cells, such as natural killer (NK) cells and natural killer T (NKT) cells, which express both T-cell receptors and NK-cell receptors simultaneously. It has been suggested that the innate immune system plays a crucial role in the liver. In this report, the distribution of NK and NKT cells in the liver and peripheral blood of two patients with drug-induced fulminant hepatic failure (FHF) who had undergone living donor liver transplantation was examined.

Characterization of extrathymic CD8 alpha beta T cells in the liver and intestine in TAP-1 deficient mice.

TAP-1 deficient (-/-) mice cannot transport MHC class I antigens onto the cell surface, which results in failure of the generation of CD8+ T cells in the thymus. In a series of recent studies, it has been proposed that extrathymic T cells are generated in the liver and at other extrathymic sites (e.g.

Immunopotentiation of intraepithelial lymphocytes in the intestine by oral administrations of beta-glucan.

Mice were orally administered with beta-glucan, isolated from baker's yeast, daily for one week (25mg/day/mouse) and several immunoparameters in the digestive tract were examined. The most prominent change was an increase in the number of intraepithelial lymphocytes (IEL) in the intestine, although the number of lymphocytes in the liver remained unchanged. The absolute number of both alphabetaT cells and gammadeltaT cells expressing CD8 antigens increased among IEL in the intestine.

Identification of effector cells for TNFalpha-mediated cytotoxicity against WEHI164S cells.

WEHI164S cells were found to be very sensitive targets for in vitro killing in a 6-h culture when liver or splenic lymphocytes were used as effector cells in mice. Of particular interest, a limiting cell-dilution analysis showed that effector cells were present in the liver with a high frequency (1/4,300). In contrast to YAC-1 cells as NK targets, perforin-based cytotoxicity was not highly associated with WEHI164S killing.

Unconventional NK1.1(-) intermediate TCR cells as major T lymphocytes expanding in chronic graft-versus-host disease.

Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) accompanying autoimmune disease was induced in (C57BL/6xDBA/2) F(1) mice (H-2(b/d)) by an injection of splenic T cells of parental DBA/2 origin (H-2(d)). In parallel with the onset of proteinuria, an expansion of lymphocytes was induced in the liver and kidney, showing a peak at 2 weeks after the onset of disease. The majority of lymphocytes were of recipient origin (H-2(b/d)).