Intensive care medicine
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Intensive care medicine · Feb 2014
Specific MAIT cell behaviour among innate-like T lymphocytes in critically ill patients with severe infections.
In between innate and adaptive immunity, the recently identified innate-like mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) lymphocytes display specific reactivity to non-streptococcal bacteria. Whether they are involved in bacterial sepsis has not been investigated. We aimed to assess the number and the time course of circulating innate-like T lymphocytes (MAIT, NKT and γδ T cells) in critically ill septic and non-septic patients and to establish correlations with the further development of intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections. ⋯ This large human study provides valuable information about MAIT cells in severe bacterial infections. The persistent depletion of MAIT cells is associated with the further development of ICU-acquired infections.
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Innate-like lymphocytes are a recently described subset of the immune response with known antibacterial properties. This human trial in critically ill patients provides the first evidence of the drop in MAIT cells during bacterial sepsis, which compounds the already known immune defects. The persistent depletion and potential for nosocomial infections is an interesting finding and one likely to provide fertile grounds for future studies.