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Studies of natural killer cells in patients with paracoccidioidomycosis

1991; Oxford University Press; Volume: 29; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/02681219180000601

1460-2709

Maria Terezinha Serrão Peraçoli, Alberto M. Soares, Rinaldo Pôncio Mendes, Sílvio Alencar Marques, Paulo Câmara Marques Pereira, M. T. Rezkallah-Iwasso,

Nail Diseases and Treatments

The number and activity of natural killer (NK) cells were studied in 34 untreated patients with paracoccidioidomycosis, 20 with the chronic form of the disease and 14 with the acute form. NK cells were detected with monoclonal antibody Leu-11c and the cytotoxic activity was measured using a single cell assay against K562 target cells. Both groups of patients had an increased number of circulating NK cells, their cytotoxic activity being significantly lower than in the healthy controls. These findings may be of importance in the immunological disturbances associated with paracoccidioidomycosis since NK cells exert important immune effector functions and may play a role in resistance against Paracoccidiodes brasiliensis.