No association of natural killer cell number and function in peripheral blood with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome in a cohort of young women

Keilen, Julia; Gar, Christina; Rottenkolber, Marietta; Füessl, Louise U.; Joseph, Anna T.; Draenert, Rika; Seissler, Jochen und Lechner, Andreas (2022): No association of natural killer cell number and function in peripheral blood with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome in a cohort of young women. In: Physiological Reports, Bd. 10, Nr. 4

Abstract

Aim: 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. Methods: 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 cor- relation analyses to clinical parameters related to the metabolic syndrome. Results: 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(6)/L]: 86.9 (44.6-188.8) vs. 92.6 (52.5-154.6) vs. 85.9 (44-153.8), p = 0.632: CD69+ [%1: 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 (p [p-value]: 0.142 [0.0211, 0.119 [0.0491, and 0.131 [0.035], respectively). Relative NK cell number further correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (0.144 10.0181) 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 [0.0331), and plasma leptin (0.155 [0.010]). After correction for multiple testing, none of the associations remained significant. Conclusion: 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.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 2051-817X
• Sprache: Englisch
• DFG: Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - 491502892