Research advances of natural killer cells at the maternal-fetal interface / 生理学报

Natural killer (NK) cells are the main immune cells at the maternal-fetal interface and accumulate in the uterine decidua in early pregnancy. Many studies have shown that NK cells at the maternal-fetal interface have unique phenotypes and play critical roles in various processes, including immune tolerance during pregnancy, decidualization, invasion of trophoblasts, remodeling of the uterine spiral artery, formation of the placenta and growth of embryo. However, specific functions of NK cells and their mechanism remain to be fully elucidated. This review summarizes the research progress of NK cells at the maternal-fetal interface and their roles in the pregnancy-related disorders in recent years. The aims of this review are to gain deep insight of the function of NK cells at the maternal-fetal interface and provide new ideas for intervention of pregnancy-related diseases.

Effects of NO on T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood of spontaneously hypertensive rats / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

Objective To investigate whether NO can relieve hypertensive cerebrovascular and renal injury by regulating the ratio of peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets and reducing proinflammatory cytokine release . Methods Twelve-week SHR and WKY rats were randomly divided into three groups :WKY group ,SHR group and SHR+NO intervention group ,with 6 rats in each group .Rats in SHR+ NO intervention group were injected intraperitoneally with sodium nitroprusside according to 10 μg/(kg · d) for 4 weeks ,while WKY group and SHR group were injected intraperitoneally with an equal amount of saline for 4 weeks .After measuring the tail artery blood pressure ,basilar artery and renal pathological changes were observed by HE staining ;the rates of CD4+ /CD8+ and CD4+ CD25+ T cells were detected by flow cytometry ;and the expression of TNF-α was detected by ELISA .Results The expressions of CD4+ /CD8+ and TNF-αin SHR group were significantly higher than those in WKY group (P<0 .01) while the rate of CD4+ CD25+ in SHR group was significantly lower than that in WKY group (P<0 .01) .The expressions of CD4+ /CD8+ and TNF-α in SHR+ NO intervention group were significantly lower than those in SHR group whereas the rate of CD4+ CD25+ was significantly higher than that in SHR group (P<0 .05) .Conclusion NO can improve the target organ damage caused by hypertension by regulating the peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets ratio and reducing the release of proinflammatory factors .