Characteristics of circulating natural killer cells and their interferon-γ production in active adult-onset Still's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the characteristics of circulating NK cells and their IFN-γ-producing ability in adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD).

METHODS: Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained from 22 patients in the acute phase of AOSD (acute AOSD); 7 of the 22 patients after treatment (remission AOSD), and 11 healthy controls (HC). NK cells and their IFN-γ expression levels were analyzed by flow cytometry. Additionally, the cytokine receptors of interleukin (IL)-12, IL-15, and IL-18 on NK cells were also evaluated.

RESULTS: The frequency of NK cells was significantly lower in acute AOSD than in HC. NK cell counts significantly increased in remission AOSD. Expression of IL-12 and IL-15 receptors on NK cells was significantly increased in acute AOSD, whereas that of IL-18 receptor indicated no significant difference among three groups. IFN-γ expression in NK cells was significantly higher in acute AOSD than in HC, and significantly decreased in remission AOSD. The absolute number of NK cells and IFN-γ-expressing NK cells revealed an inverse correlation with serum ferritin levels in acute AOSD. In two distinct subsets of NK cells, CD56dim NK cells significantly exhibited higher IFN-γ expression than CD56bright NK cells in acute AOSD.

CONCLUSION: In acute AOSD, NK cells displayed lower proportion, whereas they had higher ability of IFN-γ production than in HC; moreover, upregulation of IL-12 and IL-15 receptors on NK cells may contribute to promoting IFN-γ production. Besides, a disease activity may be implicated in regulating the number of NK cells and IFN-γ-expressing NK cells in AOSD.