[Activity of natural killer cells (NK) in patients with atopic diseases of the respiratory system].

NK cells are one of the crucial elements of natural cellular immunity mechanisms in situations when specific mechanisms are not altered. The aim of this study was to study activity of such cells in atopic respiratory diseases. The study was carried out in 52 atopic patients; 37 had atopic respiratory diseases, 15 atopic dermatitis. Control consisted of 28 healthy subjects without a history of atopy. Effector lymphocytes were recovered after centrifugation on the Ficoll/Uropolin gradient from venous blood. The activity of NK cells was determined using the cytotoxic test studying the level of emitted 51Cr from a standard K562 cell line. The authors have shown that the activity of NK cells is increased but this does not correlate with the level of IgE. This was seen mostly in patients with atopic respiratory diseases. In subjects with atopic dermatitis the activity of NK cells was similar to the seen in control subjects.