Frequency and phenotype of circulating Valpha24/Vbeta11 double-positive natural killer T cells during hepatitis C virus infection.
Lucas M., Gadola S., Meier U., Young NT., Harcourt G., Karadimitris A., Coumi N., Brown D., Dusheiko G., Cerundolo V., Klenerman P.
Natural killer T (NKT) cells are thought to be involved in innate responses against infection. We investigated one specific type of NKT cell, Valpha24/Vbeta11 double positive, in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Lower frequencies of this population were detected in the blood of HCV PCR-positive patients than in controls. Unlike Valpha24/Vbeta11 NKT cells found in blood, those in the liver appeared to be recently activated.