Decidualization-derived cAMP promotes decidual NK cells to be angiogenic phenotype.

Background: During early pregnancy, a large number of CD56 natural killer cells (NKs) are accumulated in the decidua; unlike peripheral and cord blood NK cells (pNK and cNK), these decidual NK cells (dNK) display a great capacity to secrete a series of angiogenic/vascular factors, which are essential for placental development. However, the mechanism underlying the formation of dNK cells with an angiogenic phenotype remains unclear.

Methods: First, we compared the difference between dNK and cNK/pNK cells in terms of the expression of CD56 and VEGF, and the regulation of the tube formation.

TIGIT Signaling Pathway Regulates Natural Killer Cell Function in Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

Background And Objective: Persistent infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and liver damage in immune active chronic hepatitis B (CHB) could be partly due to the overreaction of natural killer (NK) cells, including pro-inflammatory cytokine secretion and cytotoxicity. An immunosuppressive receptor, T-cell immunoglobulin and immunoreceptor tyrosine-based inhibitory motif (ITIM) domain (TIGIT) is specifically expressed in NK cells. This study aims to investigate the role of the TIGIT signaling pathway in regulating NK cell functions in patients with CHB.

Detection of IgM and IgG antibodies in patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the IgM and IgG responses against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-2 in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients with varying illness severities.

Methods: IgM and IgG antibody levels were assessed via chemiluminescence immunoassay in 338 COVID-19 patients.

Results: IgM levels increased during the first week after SARS-CoV-2 infection, peaked 2 weeks and then reduced to near-background levels in most patients.

Diagnostic Performance of a 5-Marker Predictive Model for Differential Diagnosis Between Intestinal Tuberculosis and Crohn's Disease.

Background: The differentiation between intestinal tuberculosis (ITB) and Crohn's disease (CD) is a challenge. The aim of this study was to investigate a predictive model for differential diagnosis between ITB and CD.

Methods: A total of 268 patients who were suspected of having ITB or CD were prospectively recruited between January 2013 and September 2016.

Establishment of the Reference Intervals of Lymphocyte Function in Healthy Adults Based on IFN-γ Secretion Assay upon Phorbol-12-Myristate-13-Acetate/Ionomycin Stimulation.

The function of lymphocytes is the key to reflect the immune status of hosts. Evaluation of lymphocyte function is a useful tool to monitor the effect of immunosuppressive treatment and predict the prognosis of immune-mediated diseases (e.g.

Characteristics of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli among children under 5 years of age with acute diarrhea: a hospital based study.

Background: Diarrhea is the leading infectious cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. Among bacterial agents, diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) is the major causal agent of childhood diarrhea in developing countries, particularly in children under the age of 5 years. Here, we performed a hospital-based prospective study to explore the pathotype distribution, epidemiological characteristics and antibiotic resistance patterns of DEC from < 5-year-old diarrheal children.

Use of TBAg/PHA ratio in distinguishing tuberculoma from cancer in solitary pulmonary nodule or mass.

Introduction: Differentiation of tuberculoma from cancer in solitary pulmonary nodule or mass still remains a major challenge in diagnostic laboratories.

Objectives: The objective of this study is to determine the performance of T-SPOT.TB assay in discriminating these 2 diseases.

The performance of the TBAg/PHA ratio in the diagnosis of active TB disease in immunocompromised patients.

Objectives: The results of the T-SPOT.TB (T-SPOT) assay are reduced in immunocompromised patients with active tuberculosis (ATB), and it is difficult using T-SPOT results to distinguish ATB from latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in this condition. The aim of this study was to determine the performance of the TBAg/PHA ratio in T-SPOT assay in the diagnosis of ATB in immunocompromised patients.

TIGIT signalling pathway negatively regulates CD4 T-cell responses in systemic lupus erythematosus.

B-lymphocyte hyperactivity in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is T-cell-dependent, and CD4 T-cell activation is essential to SLE pathogenesis. However, the mechanism of the deregulation of CD4 T cells in SLE is largely unknown. T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT) is a new inhibitory receptor preferentially expressed on activated CD4 T cells.

Establishing the reference intervals of NK cell functions in healthy adults.

Natural killer (NK) cells play a key role in host defense against microbial pathogens. Establishing the reference intervals (RIs) of NK cell functions would be valuable in assessing the immune status of hosts. We evaluated the NK cell activity in healthy adults.

The source of Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific IFN-γ production in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of TB patients.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb)-specific IFN-γ secretion plays important roles in anti-tuberculosis (TB) immunity. Mtb-specific IFN-γ response can be induced in HIV/TB co-infected patients with a low CD4 lymphocyte count; this suggests that the source of Mtb-specific IFN-γ production is not limited in CD4(+) T lymphocytes. Currently, the major sources of Mtb-specific IFN-γ production and the function and phenotype of Mtb-specific IFN-γ-producing cells still remain unclear.

TIGIT expression levels on human NK cells correlate with functional heterogeneity among healthy individuals.

Human NK cells display extensive phenotypic and functional heterogeneity among healthy individuals, but the mechanism responsible for this variation is still largely unknown. Here, we show that a novel immune receptor, T-cell immunoglobulin and ITIM domain (TIGIT), is expressed preferentially on human NK cells but shows wide variation in its expression levels among healthy individuals. We found that the TIGIT expression level is related to the phenotypic and functional heterogeneity of NK cells, and that NK cells from healthy individuals can be divided into three categories according to TIGIT expression.

Tim-3 pathway affects NK cell impairment in patients with active tuberculosis.

Active tuberculosis (TB) patients show impaired NK cell function, and the underlying mechanism remains largely unknown. In this study, we confirmed the decrease in activation, cytokine secretion, and degranulation potential of NK cells in active TB patients. We further investigated whether coinhibitory receptor Tim-3 was involved with impairment of NK cells.