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The role of natural killer cells in the physiology and pathology of female reproductive system
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Rezvan Asgari   , Kamran Mansouri |
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Abstract: (216 Views) |
Introduction: Natural killer (NK) cells are a type of cytotoxic lymphocyte of immune system that play an important role in immune responses. Also, NK cells is involved in reproductive processes; therefore, dysfunction or change in number of these cells may affect reproductive function. The present study evaluate the role of NK cells in physiologic and pathologic conditions of female reproductive system.
Search Method: The search in the databases PubMed, Web of science, and Google scholar up to May 2023 was performed. The keywords were natural killer cells, NK cells, female, women, reproductive system, pregnancy, infertility, physiology, and pathology. Then, the articles were collected for the review.
Results: NK cells are present in peripheral blood (pNK cells) and uterine (uNK cells), while these two types of cells phenotypically and functionally are different. The uNK cells play significant roles in the physiology and pathology of pregnant and non-pregnant uteri. These cells are involved in resistance to microbial infection, angiogenesis, remodeling of uterine spiral arteries, trophoblast migration, immunological tolerance, embryo-maternal interactions during implantation, fetal and placental development, and pregnancy establishment. Also, some studies have reported an association between dysfunction and/or change in the number of uNK cells with reproductive disorders and diseases including recurrent implantation failure, recurrent miscarriage, pregnancy failure, preeclampsia, polycystic ovary syndrome, and chronic endometritis. Therefore, NK cells play significant roles in both physiologic and pathologic conditions of women’s reproductive system.
Conclusion: NK cells can affect the female reproductive function. These cells have a significant role in pregnancy immunology, and it seems that uNK cells can be key immunotherapy targets, and predictive index in the fertility problems in the future. Various studies have reported contradictory results regarding the association of NK cells with female infertility. Therefore, further studies are required to approve the exact role of NK cells in reproductive immunology.
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| Keywords: Natural killer cells, Reproductive system, Pregnancy, Female |
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Full-Text [PDF 336 kb]
(33 Downloads)
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Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
General
Received: 2024/02/10 | Accepted: 2023/08/23 | Published: 2023/08/23
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