Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis function, psychopathological traits, and natural killer (NK) cell activity in anorexia nervosa.

To evaluate the role of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) hormones and psychoneuroendocrine modulation on NK cell activity in Anorexia Nervosa (AN) we studied in 24 patients and 20 sex- and age-matched healthy controls, the spontaneous NK activity of peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells and the susceptibility in vitro to cortisol or immune interferon or interleukin-2. NK cytotoxicity of PBM cells was measured in a direct non-radiometric 4h cytolytic assay using K562 cells as targets. HPA axis function was evaluated by IV ovine Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (o-CRH) administration. We did not find clear-cut abnormalities of NK cytotoxicities either in basal conditions or after exposure to challengers. The extent of cortisol-dependent inhibition was comparable in patients and controls. Significant inverse and direct correlations were found respectively between the spontaneous NK cell activity and baseline serum cortisol at 0800 h (r = -0.5; p < .02), and between IL-2 dependent boosting of NK cell cytotoxicity and ACTH, beta-endorphin or cortisol responses after o-CRH, expressed as areas under the curve (AUC) (r = 0.46, p < .05; r = 0.46, p < .05; and r = -0.48, p < .05, respectively). Correlations observed with AUC ratios yielded more significant results (r = 0.62; p < .01 and r = 0.51; p < .05 respectively). These data suggest a role for Proopiomelanocortin (POMC) derived peptides in the regulation of NK cell activity in AN, and multifaceted relationships between this particular immune function, on the one hand, and certain patterns of HPA axis function on the other.

[The autocrine-paracrine modulation of natural killer activity in man by peptides of the corticostatin-defensin family]. / Modulazione autocrino-paracrina dell'attività natural killer nell'uomo da parte di peptidi della famiglia delle corticostatine-defensine.

Corticostatins (CS)-defensins are a family of peptides recently isolated from neutrophils and cells of myeloid lineage. They have been termed CS in that members of the family inhibit ACTH-induced steroidogenesis, and defensins in that they are highly effective as enhancers of intracellular killing of pathogens. Natural killer (NK) cells are an immunocyte subset whose cytotoxic activity is modulated by lymphokines and hormones. Recent evidence suggests a myeloid origin for these cells. We evaluated whether two human CS-defensins, HP-1 and HP-4, are able to modulate in vitro spontaneous NK cell activity of human peripheral blood mononuclear (PBM) cells and in vitro susceptibility to the stimulatory effect by immune interferon (IFN-gamma) or interleukin 2 (IL-2) and to the inhibitory effect of cortisol. PBM cells were incubated for 20 h with HP-1 or HP-4 and IFN-gamma or IL-2 or cortisol. NK cell activity was measured in a 4-h direct cytotoxicity assay (K562 cells as a target). We also searched for CS-defensins in NK-enriched cell preparations by means of HPLC separation of the supernatant obtained from sonicated cells. HP-1 and HP-4 significantly inhibited both spontaneous and lymphokine-inducible NK cell activity, and potentiated cortisol-dependent inhibition. Radioimmunoassay on HPLC purified fractions demonstrated the presence of HP-1 in NK-enriched cell preparations. Our data indicate that HP-1 and HP-4 are negative modulators of NK cell cytotoxicity and that autocrine/paracrine mechanisms are conceivably involved. HP-1 production by NK cells may be viewed as additional support for the thesis of the myeloid origin of these immune effectors.

Altered circadian rhythms of natural killer (NK) cell activity in patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases.

Natural Killer (NK) cells are a lymphocyte subset actively involved in cytotoxicity against tumor-transformed and virus-infected cells; they are a reliable model for the study of neuroendocrine-immune interactions. In previous works we demonstrated that in healthy subjects NK activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and susceptibility to endogenous modifiers display statistically validated circadian rhythms. In rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in other autoimmune rheumatic diseases abnormalities of the circadian rhythm of serum cortisol and altered levels of NK cell activity have been reported. We evaluated the circadian pattern of NK cell activity in 7 hospitalized patients with autoimmune rheumatic diseases (4 RA, 1 scleroderma, 2 mixed connective tissue disease). Temporal variations of in vitro responses to either positive recombinant (immune interferon, r IFN-gamma IFN-gamma: 650 IU/ml; recombinant interleukin-2, r IL-2 IL-2: 100 IU/ml) or negative (cortisol: 10(-6) M) modifiers were also studied. Blood was drawn at 4h intervals for 24 h, starting at 0800. PBMC preparations were immediately separated and incubated for 20h in the presence or absence of modifiers. NK activity was assessed with a direct non-radiometric 4h cytolytic assay, using K 562 cells as targets. Significant circadian variations of spontaneous NK activity were documented only in women with RA, with a peak in the evening hours and a minimum in the night or in the early morning (p < 0.05, PR 51.5%, phi 1829). Population-mean cosinor analysis did not yield detection of significant circadian variations of in vitro responsiveness to modifiers.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)