Abstract
Natural killer N(NK) cells appear to be an important first line of host defense against viral infections. Because a decrease in the number or functional activity of such cells could contribute to the increased susceptibility to virus infections which occurs in the newborn period, we sought to compare the NK cell activity of newborns and adults. Blood lymphocytes from 11 newborns and 9 normal adults were tested for spontaneous cell mediated lysis against standard tumor target cell line K562 in a 4 hr. chromiumrelease assay. The NK activity of newborn lymphocytes was considerably less than that of adult lymphocytes. At effector/target ratio 33/1 the mean % specific lysis by newborn vs adult cells was 9% vs 45% (p<0.001). Moreover the plateau level of maximum lysis at high effector/target ratios was significantly lower for newborn lymphocytes (29% vs 90%, p<0.001) suggesting that newborn lymphocytes contain cells which inhibit NK lytic activity. In support of this, newborn lymphocytes caused 20% inhibition of adult NK cell activity when present in the ratio of 1 newborn to 8 adult lymphocytes. The diminished NK activity documented here may be a major factor rendering newborns susceptible to overwhelming viral infections.
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Kaplan, J., Bollinger, R. & Shope, T. 931 NEWBORNS HAVE DIMINISHED NATURAL KILLER CELL ACTIVITY. Pediatr Res 15 (Suppl 4), 597 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-00956
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-00956