Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Kilian Vomstein, Katharina Feil, Laura Strobel, Anna Aulitzky, Susanne Hofer-Tollinger, Ruben-Jeremias Kuon, Bettina Toth
Summary: This review evaluates the current status of immunological risk factors in recurrent pregnancy loss in international guidelines, with a focus on diagnostic factors and treatment options.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Anne-Sophie Braun, Kilian Vomstein, Elisabeth Reiser, Susanne Tollinger, Christiana Kyvelidou, Katharina Feil, Bettina Toth
Summary: RPL and RIF are challenges in reproductive medicine. The immune system plays a pivotal role in endometrial receptivity, successful implantation, and pregnancy complications. Understanding immune dysregulation especially in NK and T cell subtypes may lead to better diagnostic concepts and treatments. Tailored immunotherapy based on endometrial immunophenotyping might be an option for RPL and RIF patients, but further research is needed.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Yongnu Zhang, Chunyu Huang, Ruochun Lian, Jian Xu, Yunfeng Fu, Yong Zeng, Wenwei Tu
Summary: This study compared the percentage, immunophenotype, and function of pNK cells between patients with uRM and fertile controls. The results showed that pNK cell cytotoxicity was significantly lower in patients with uRM compared to fertile controls, and the ratios of NKp30/CD158a, NKp46/CD158a in CD3(-)CD56(bright) pNK subsets were significantly lower in the uRM group.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Jingnan Liao, Yuan Li, Xiaofeng Li, Xian Su, Jing Peng, Na Xiao, Xiangxiu Fan, Huijun Chen, Guangxiu Lu, Ge Lin, Lamei Cheng, Fei Gong
Summary: The study found that pre-pregnancy blood Treg levels were significantly lower in URPL patients than in controls, and that Treg levels predicted subsequent miscarriages. There were no significant differences among other blood cell types between the two groups.
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Kilian Vomstein, Pia Egerup, Astrid Marie Kolte, Ida Behrendt-Moller, Amalie Dyhrberg Boje, Marie-Louise Bertelsen, Cecilie Sofie Eriken, Michelle Raupelyt Reierson, Bettina Toth, Nina la Cour Freiesleben, Henriette Svarre Nielsen
Summary: This study investigated the differences in menstrual blood lymphocytes between controls, patients with recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL), and patients with unexplained infertility (uINF). The results showed that RPL patients had significantly higher numbers of CD56+ NK cells in menstrual blood compared to controls, while both RPL and uINF patients had decreased numbers of CD56dimCD16bright NK cells in menstrual blood. These findings suggest altered cytotoxicity in menstrual blood NK cell subtypes of RPL and uINF patients compared to controls.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOMEDICINE ONLINE
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Niloufar Shayan Asl, Maryam Behfar, Rouzbeh Shams Amiri, Rashin Mohseni, Masoumeh Azimi, Javad Firouzi, Mohammad Faranoush, Amirhossein Izadpanah, Monireh Mohmmad, Amir Ali Hamidieh, Zohreh Habibi, Marzieh Ebrahimi
Summary: Intracranial injection of activated haploidentical NK cells can safely and effectively treat malignant brain tumors, improving overall disease control rate and survival.
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Oncology
Yu Tao, Yan-Hong Li, Di Zhang, Ling Xu, Jia-Jia Chen, Yi-Fei Sang, Hai-Lan Piao, Xue-Ling Jing, Min Yu, Qiang Fu, Sheng-Tao Zhou, Da-Jin Li, Mei-Rong Du
Summary: The CXCR4(+)CD56(bright)dNK subset plays an important immunomodulatory role during early pregnancy, promoting Th2 shift and assisting in the establishment of immune-tolerance. This new dNK cell subset may provide important insights into NK cell mechanisms in early pregnancy, and offer potential prognostic factors for the diagnosis and therapy of recurrent miscarriage.
CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Yun Liu, Peigen Chen, Hui Fei, Mengxiong Li, Xian Li, Tian Li
Summary: In this study, analysis of endometrial tissue data from patients with recurrent miscarriage revealed a key module positively related to the numbers of miscarriages, with natural killer cells mediated cytotoxicity related genes playing a role. Specifically, CASP3 was identified as a key gene that down-regulates PARP1, with regulation by SP1. It was proposed that natural killer cells contribute to recurrent miscarriage through the SP1-CASP3-PARP1 pathway.
INTERNATIONAL IMMUNOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Isabel Cuadrado-Torroglosa, Alberto Pacheco, Ana Barrio, Nicolas Garrido, Pilar Aparicio, Nuria Pellicer, Juan Antonio Garcia-Velasco, Diana Alecsandru
Summary: This study aims to investigate the distribution and gene expression of endometrial immune cell populations, especially natural killer (NK) subsets, in assisted reproductive technology patients and healthy donors. The results showed a higher percentage of CD56dimCD16 thorn NK cells in patients compared to healthy donors. However, there was no statistically significant difference in endometrial gene expression or immune cell populations when categorizing patients by KIR genotype. Furthermore, there were no differences in binding between KIR and HLA-C molecules among these patient groups.
FERTILITY AND STERILITY
(2023)
Article
Obstetrics & Gynecology
Haley G. Genovese, Dana B. Mcqueen
Summary: This manuscript reports on the prevalence of early pregnancy loss and discusses the impact of improved pregnancy diagnosis, as well as the influence of increased age and body mass index at first birth.
FERTILITY AND STERILITY
(2023)
Review
Cell & Tissue Engineering
Faroogh Marofi, Heshu Sulaiman Rahman, Lakshmi Thangavelu, Aleksey Dorofeev, Favian Bayas-Morejon, Naghmeh Shirafkan, Navid Shomali, Max Stanley Chartrand, Mostafa Jarahian, Ghasem Vahedi, Rebar N. Mohammed, Somayeh Shahrokh, Morteza Akbari, Farhad Motavalli Khiavi
Summary: CAR-T cell immunotherapy has shown promising therapeutic results in treating cancers and infectious diseases, but it also brings some considerable drawbacks, leading to the exploration of utilizing NK cells as an alternative source of immune effector cells for CAR-engineering.
STEM CELL RESEARCH & THERAPY
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Gavin Sacks, Emma Finkelstein
Summary: NK cell assessment is a common immune test for clinicians, with better methodology such as flow cytometry potentially improving accuracy in the future. Blood testing is noninvasive and may serve as a marker for immune dysfunction, especially in cases of repeated reproductive failure. Additionally, a new genetic test (the KIR/HLA-C interaction) could provide a more effective diagnostic tool for immune therapy trials.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Michal Zych, Aleksander Roszczyk, Monika Kniotek, Filip Dabrowski, Radoslaw Zagozdzon
Summary: The study revealed significantly decreased expression of TIM-3 on CD8+T lymphocytes in RSA patients, and an upregulation of PD-1 on CD4+T lymphocytes compared to healthy controls. Therefore, therapeutic intervention targeting immune checkpoints could be a promising treatment option for recurrent spontaneous abortion.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Immunology
Mauricio Campos-Mora, William Jacot, Genevieve Garcin, Marie-Lise Depondt, Michael Constantinides, Catherine Alexia, Martin Villalba
Summary: NK cells infiltrate tumor environment and eliminate tumor cells. They can perform trogocytosis by acquiring tumor antigens from solid cancer cells. The extent of trogocytosis depends on the target cell and the antigen.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Ee Von Woon, Dimitrios Nikolaou, Kate MacLaran, Julian Norman-Taylor, Priya Bhagwat, Antonia O. O. Cuff, Mark R. R. Johnson, Victoria Male
Summary: A significant proportion of unexplained reproductive failure is associated with immunological dysfunction at the maternal-fetal interface. Uterine Natural Killer cells (uNK) play a crucial role in successful pregnancy by regulating EVT invasion and spiral artery remodeling. This study explores the frequency, phenotype, and function of uNK subsets in women with unexplained reproductive failure and reveals a global reduction in expression of uNK receptors important for interaction with HLA-C and HLA-G, leading to reduced uNK activation.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2023)