Specific MAIT cell behaviour among innate-like T lymphocytes in critically ill patients with severe infections

Abstract

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.

Harnessing the antibacterial and immunological properties of mucosal-associated invariant T cells in the development of novel oral vaccines against enteric infections

“…The importance of MAIT cells in bacterial infection has been further confirmed in a large clinical study involving patients suffering from severe sepsis or septic shock [80]. A comparison of patients suffering from severe bacterial infections (n = 113), no infection (n = 36) or severe viral infections (n = 7), compared with healthy controls (n = 26) revealed that a marked decrease in circulating MAIT cells occurs early following bacterial infection.…”

Mucosal associated invariant T (MAIT) cell: a novel cellular mechanism participating in post-aggressive immunodepression

“…However, it has been shown that even if the HLA-DR expression has a positive slope to recover, the occurrence of a secondary infection once again induces a drop in HLA-DR expression. Whatever the mechanisms involved, it would appear to be relatively specific for MAIT cells, since the number of other innate-like lymphocytes, such as cd-T cells and NKT cells, did not change in ICU patients of Grimaldi et al [9].…”

“…The major inputs of the Grimaldi et al [9] study are the observed reduction in MAIT cell number associated with prevalence of secondary infections in human beings which was not observed with other innate-like lymphocyte subsets, namely, the NKT and cd T cells. The authors confirmed the previously shown non-response of MAIT cells to Streptococcus spp., L. monocytogenes and virus infection.…”

“…The article by Grimaldi et al published in this issue of Intensive Care Medicine [9] describes an alteration in a new subset of cells as an important mechanism for multifactorial induced immunodepression. These authors describe an early decrease in the level of blood mucosalassociated invariant T (MAIT) cells in a cohort of 156 intensive care unit (ICU) patients relative to MAIT cell number in healthy controls.…”

The editorial policy of Intensive Care Medicine

“…Moreover, since the launch in 2013 of Intensive Care Medicine Experimental (ICMx), all preclinical research is transferred there. ICM may publish translational research if the reported data relate to clinical outcomes and provide a plausible biological basis for future clinical trials [1,2]. After this initial evaluation, about 60 % of papers are assigned to section editors who further appraise the manuscripts for originality, study design, degree of novelty, quality of reporting (writing, tables and figures), and statistical soundness, as well as competition with other manuscripts being considered for publication in the journal.…”