Diabetes Research Group, Department of Medicine IV, University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Clinical Cooperation Group Diabetes, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and Helmholtz Zentrum München, Munich, Germany.
Physiol Rep. 2022 Feb;10(4):e15148. doi: 10.14814/phy2.15148.
To reexamine the associations of NK cell number and function in the peripheral blood with overweight/obesity and the metabolic syndrome in a large, well-phenotyped human cohort.
Cross-sectional analysis of 273 women in the PPSDiab Study; measurement of absolute and relative number of NK cells in peripheral blood, and of functional parameters CD69 positivity and cytotoxicity against K562 cells; group comparison of NK cell characteristics between lean, overweight, and obese participants, as well as metabolic syndrome scores of 0, 1, 2, and ≥3; Spearman correlation analyses to clinical parameters related to the metabolic syndrome.
We found no differences in NK cell number and function between lean, overweight, and obese women (relative NK cell number (median (Q1-Q3), [%]) 5.1(2.6-9.4) vs. 4.8 (2.9-8.4) vs. 3.8 (1.7-7.8), p = 0.187; absolute NK cell number [10 /L]: 86.9 (44.6-188.8) vs. 92.6 (52.5-154.6) vs. 85.9 (44-153.8), p = 0.632; CD69+ [%]: 27.2 (12.9-44.3) vs. 37.6 (13.2-52.8) vs. 33.6 (16.3-45), p = 0.136; cytotoxicity [%]: 11.0 (7.1-14.5) vs. 8.5 (6.4-13.2) vs. 11.3 (8.7-14.2), p = 0.094), as well as between different metabolic syndrome scores. Nonesterified fatty acids correlated with absolute and relative NK cell number and cytotoxicity (ρ [p-value]: 0.142 [0.021], 0.119 [0.049], and 0.131 [0.035], respectively). Relative NK cell number further correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.144 [0.018]) and cytotoxicity with 2 h glucose in oral glucose tolerance testing (0.132 [0.034]). CD69 positivity correlated with body fat (0.141 [0.021]), triglycerides (0.129 [0.033]), and plasma leptin (0.155 [0.010]). After correction for multiple testing, none of the associations remained significant.
In the present study, we observed no associations of NK cell number and function in the peripheral blood with overweight/obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Extreme phenotypes of obesity and the metabolic syndrome might have caused differing results in previous studies. Further analyses with a focus on compartments other than peripheral blood may help to clarify the relation between NK cells and metabolic diseases.
在一个大型、表型良好的人类队列中，重新检验外周血中 NK 细胞数量和功能与超重/肥胖和代谢综合征的相关性。
对 PPSDiab 研究中的 273 名女性进行横断面分析；测量外周血中 NK 细胞的绝对和相对数量，以及功能参数 CD69 阳性和对 K562 细胞的细胞毒性；比较瘦、超重和肥胖参与者之间 NK 细胞特征的差异，以及代谢综合征评分 0、1、2 和≥3 的差异；Spearman 相关分析与代谢综合征相关的临床参数。
我们没有发现 NK 细胞数量和功能在瘦、超重和肥胖女性之间存在差异（相对 NK 细胞数量（中位数（Q1-Q3），[％]）5.1（2.6-9.4）vs. 4.8（2.9-8.4）vs. 3.8（1.7-7.8），p=0.187；绝对 NK 细胞数量[10 /L]：86.9（44.6-188.8）vs. 92.6（52.5-154.6）vs. 85.9（44-153.8），p=0.632；CD69+[％]：27.2（12.9-44.3）vs. 37.6（13.2-52.8）vs. 33.6（16.3-45），p=0.136；细胞毒性[％]：11.0（7.1-14.5）vs. 8.5（6.4-13.2）vs. 11.3（8.7-14.2），p=0.094），以及不同的代谢综合征评分之间也没有差异。非酯化脂肪酸与绝对和相对 NK 细胞数量和细胞毒性相关（ρ[p 值]：0.142[0.021]，0.119[0.049]和 0.131[0.035]）。相对 NK 细胞数量进一步与高密度脂蛋白胆固醇相关（0.144[0.018]），细胞毒性与口服葡萄糖耐量试验中的 2 小时血糖相关（0.132[0.034]）。CD69 阳性与体脂肪（0.141[0.021]）、甘油三酯（0.129[0.033]）和血浆瘦素（0.155[0.010]）相关。在进行多次检验校正后，没有一项关联仍然具有统计学意义。
在本研究中，我们没有发现外周血中 NK 细胞数量和功能与超重/肥胖和代谢综合征相关。肥胖和代谢综合征的极端表型可能导致了之前研究的结果差异。进一步分析关注外周血以外的其他部位可能有助于阐明 NK 细胞与代谢疾病的关系。
