This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: CVI.00357-07v1 15/1/120    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Long, B. R. Articles by Nixon, D. F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Long, B. R. Articles by Nixon, D. F.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, January 2008, p. 120-130, Vol. 15, No. 1
1071-412X/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/CVI.00357-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Elevated Frequency of Gamma Interferon-Producing NK Cells in Healthy Adults Vaccinated against Influenza Virus

Division of Experimental Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94110,¹ Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, 141 86 Stockholm, Sweden,² Positive Health Program, Department of Medicine, San Francisco General Hospital, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94110,³ Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Cancer Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143⁴

Received 31 August 2007/ Returned for modification 14 October 2007/ Accepted 2 November 2007

Recent studies indicate that innate immunity in influenza virus infection is an area of substantial importance for our understanding of influenza virus pathogenesis, yet our knowledge of the mechanisms controlling innate immunity remains limited. Further delineation of the roles of NK cells and innate immunity in viral infection may have important implications for the development of improved influenza virus vaccines. In this study, we evaluated the phenotype and function of NK and T lymphocytes, as well as influenza virus-specific immunoglobulin G production, prior to and following vaccination with the routinely administered trivalent influenza virus vaccine. We demonstrate influenza virus antigen-specific innate and adaptive cellular responses and evaluate changes in NK cell receptor expression over time. Our results demonstrate increased innate and adaptive cellular immune responses and show that NK cells are a significant source of gamma interferon (IFN-) following influenza virus vaccination. An increase in the frequency of IFN--producing NK cells was observed in many subjects postvaccination. The subset distribution with respect to CD56^dim and CD56^bright NK cell subsets remained stable, as did the NK cell phenotype with respect to expression of cell surface activating and inhibitory receptors. These results may form the basis for further investigations of the role of NK cells in immunity to influenza.

Published ahead of print on 14 November 2007.