OBJECTIVE: To study the role of gamma-delta T (γδ T) cells and its subsets in the immunopathogenesis of Henoch-Schönlein purpura (HSP) in children, and to provide new ideas for the treatment of HSP in children from the aspect of γδ T cell regulation. METHODS: A total of 33 children with HSP were enrolled as the HSP group, and 21 healthy children were enrolled as the healthy control group. The percentages of γδ T cells and its subsets Vδ1 T and Vδ2 T cells among peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were measured, as well as the apoptosis rate of γδ T cell and plasma level of interleukin-17 (IL-17). RESULTS: Compared with the healthy control group, the HSP group had significantly lower percentages of lymphocytes in PBMCs and Vδ2 T cells in γδ T cells (P<0.05). The HSP group had significantly higher percentage of Vδ1 T cells in γδ T cells and plasma level of IL-17 than the healthy control group. The HSP group had a significantly higher overall apoptosis rate of γδ T cells than the healthy control group (P<0.05), especially early apoptosis. The percentage of Vδ2 T cells was positively correlated with overall apoptosis rate (r=0.615, P<0.05) and was negatively correlated with IL-17 level (r=-0.398, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Vδ1/Vδ2 T cell immune imbalance mediated by γδ T cells and over-activation of IL-17 may be involved in the development of HSP, among which the disturbance of immune tolerance induced by Vδ2 T cells plays an important role in the pathophysiology of the disease.
Child ; Humans ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; Purpura, Schoenlein-Henoch ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta ; T-Lymphocytes

γδ T cells are a kind of innate immune T cell. They have not attracted sufficient attention because they account for only a small proportion of all immune cells, and many basic factors related to these cells remain unclear. However, in recent years, with the rapid development of tumor immunotherapy, γδ T cells have attracted increasing attention because of their ability to exert cytotoxic effects on most tumor cells without major histocompatibility complex (MHC) restriction. An increasing number of basic studies have focused on the development, antigen recognition, activation, and antitumor immune response of γδ T cells. Additionally, γδ T cell-based immunotherapeutic strategies are being developed, and the number of clinical trials investigating such strategies is increasing. This review mainly summarizes the progress of basic research and the clinical application of γδ T cells in tumor immunotherapy to provide a theoretical basis for further the development of γδ T cell-based strategies in the future.
Humans ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta ; Immunotherapy, Adoptive ; T-Lymphocytes ; Immunotherapy ; Neoplasms/therapy*

Humans ; Spleen ; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; Lymphocytes ; Lymphoma ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta

GammadeltaT cells are considered as linkage between innate and adaptive immune response, which recognize specific antigen without MHC-restriction. Vgamma9Vdelta2T cells, isolated from peripheral blood and tumor tissue, can be activated by non-peptide phosphoantigen through binding to its gammadeltaTCR and proliferate under IL-2 stimulation. It has been shown that Vgamma9Vdelta2T cells possess anticancer activity against several types of tumor in vitro, as well as inhibit the growth of lymphoma, breast cancer and malignant melanoma in vivo. The phase I clinical trial of the application of Vgamma9Vdelta2T cells in treatment of lung cancer, renal cancer and prostate cancer demonstrated promising results. This review summarizes the recent advances in antigen recognition and activation of gammadeltaT cells, and the gammadeltaT cell-based immunotherapy for cancer treatment.
Humans ; Immunotherapy ; methods ; Immunotherapy, Adoptive ; methods ; Neoplasms ; immunology ; therapy ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta ; immunology ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; immunology

Anemia, Aplastic ; Antigens, CD ; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ; Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Leukemia, Large Granular Lymphocytic ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta

Humans ; Immunophenotyping ; Leukemia, Large Granular Lymphocytic ; classification ; complications ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta ; beta-Thalassemia ; complications

The purpose of this study was to set up an approach for expansion of the peripheral blood gammadeltaT cells from normal subjects in order to explore the characteristics of gammadeltaT cells. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) were separated from 5 - 10 ml peripheral blood and stimulated by the low molecular peptide derived from Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb-Ag), and expanded in rIL-2-containing medium. The relative amount of gammadeltaT cells were measured by anti TCR gammadelta-PE staining and flow cytometry. The Cytotoxicity were detected by gammadeltaT assay. The results showed that after stimulation and expansion for 10 days, gammadeltaT cells increased to 69.2% of the total PBMNC and demonstrated significant cytotoxicity against K562 cells. In conclusion, this is a simple, rapid and specific method for expansion of peripheral blood gammadeltaT cells in vitro.
Antigens, Bacterial ; immunology ; Cell Separation ; methods ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; immunology ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta ; analysis ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; cytology

Recent studies in man and animal models have demonstrated that TCR-gamma delta-bearing T cells (gamma delta T cells) are activated by mycobacteria and accumulate in the sites of mycobacterial infection. Although the function of gamma delta T cells remains unclear, some data suggest a potential role for these cells in the granulomatous immune response. To address the presence of gamma delta T cells within the BCG granulomas, we have characterized the TCR phenotype of T-lymphocytes present in the BCG granulomatous lesion immunohistochemically using a monoclonal antibody to TCR delta 1 and others. Fairly large numbers of gamma delta T cells were located at the periphery of the BCG granulomas without necrosis and most of them also expressed CD8. However, gamma delta T cells were rarely present in the granulomas with central caseous necrosis, calcification and fibrotic changes. With these results, it might be speculated that the CD8+ gamma delta T lymphocytes participate in the BCG granuloma formation mainly in the early stage.
Female ; Granuloma/immunology/*pathology ; Human ; Infant ; Lymph Nodes/pathology ; Male ; *Mycobacterium bovis ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta/*analysis ; T-Lymphocytes/*immunology ; Tuberculosis/immunology/*pathology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the percentages of peripheral blood &gamma;&delta; T cells and regulatory T cells (Treg) and the expression of associated cytokines, interleukin 17 (IL-17) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), in infants with human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection.

METHODSTwenty-two infants with HCMV infection (HCMV group) and 22 healthy infants who underwent physical examination (control group) were enrolled in this study. The percentages of peripheral blood &gamma;&delta; T cells and Treg cells were determined by flow cytometry. The levels of IL-17 and TGF-β1 in plasma were measured using ELISA.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the HCMV group had significantly higher percentage of &gamma;&delta; T cells and IL-17 level (P<0.01) and significantly lower percentage of Treg cells and TGF-β1 level (P<0.01). In the HCMV group, the percentage of &gamma;&delta; T cells was negatively correlated with the percentage of Treg cells and TGF-β1 level (P<0.05), but positively correlated with IL-17 level (P<0.05); the percentage of Treg cells was positively correlated with TGF-β1 level (P<0.05), but negatively correlated with IL-17 level (P<0.05); there was no correlation between IL-17 level and TGF-β1 level (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThere is an imbalance between &gamma;&delta; T cells and Treg cells in the peripheral blood of infants with HCMV infection, and &gamma;&delta; T cells may be involved in the secretion of IL-17.

Cytokines ; blood ; Cytomegalovirus Infections ; immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Interleukin-17 ; blood ; Male ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta ; analysis ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; immunology ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; blood

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes motor, sensory, and autonomic dysfunctions. The gut microbiome has an important role in SCI, while short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are one of the main bioactive mediators of microbiota. In the present study, we explored the effects of oral administration of exogenous SCFAs on the recovery of locomotor function and tissue repair in SCI. Allen's method was utilized to establish an SCI model in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The animals received water containing a mixture of 150 mmol/L SCFAs after SCI. After 21 d of treatment, the Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) score increased, the regularity index improved, and the base of support (BOS) value declined. Spinal cord tissue inflammatory infiltration was alleviated, the spinal cord necrosis cavity was reduced, and the numbers of motor neurons and Nissl bodies were elevated. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and immunohistochemistry assay revealed that the expression of interleukin (IL)‍-10 increased and that of IL-17 decreased in the spinal cord. SCFAs promoted gut homeostasis, induced intestinal T cells to shift toward an anti-inflammatory phenotype, and promoted regulatory T (Treg) cells to secrete IL-10, affecting Treg cells and IL-17⁺ γδ T cells in the spinal cord. Furthermore, we observed that Treg cells migrated from the gut to the spinal cord region after SCI. The above findings confirm that SCFAs can regulate Treg cells in the gut and affect the balance of Treg and IL-17⁺ γδ T cells in the spinal cord, which inhibits the inflammatory response and promotes the motor function in SCI rats. Our findings suggest that there is a relationship among gut, spinal cord, and immune cells, and the "gut-spinal cord-immune" axis may be one of the mechanisms regulating neural repair after SCI.
Animals ; Rats ; Interleukin-17 ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Recovery of Function ; Spinal Cord Injuries/drug therapy* ; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory ; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta/immunology*