BAL cellularity and lymphocyte immunophenotyping offer insights into lung inflammatory status. Natural killer (NK) cells are efficient effector cells, producing pro-inflammatory cytokines. A better understanding of the biology of NK cells in BAL in the lungs is necessary to improve the pathogenesis of fibrotic ILD and develop prospective targeted treatments. Our aim was to analyse NK and NKT-like cell percentages in BAL from 159 patients with different ILD: f-HP, f-NSIP, IPF and CTD-ILD, to evaluate their potential diagnostic/prognostic role. BAL NK cell percentages showed significantly higher values in IPF than in f-HP and f-NSIP, while BAL NKT-like cells showed significantly lower values in the f-NSIP than the f-HP and IPF. A cut-off of 4%NK cells in BAL of IPF showed a significant difference in survival rate. It suggests a possible new marker of survival and raises the possibility of new targeted approach in treatment and management of IPF.

中文翻译：

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NK 细胞百分比在来自不同纤维化间质性肺疾病患者的支气管肺泡灌洗液中的预后作用。

BAL 细胞结构和淋巴细胞免疫表型分析提供了对肺部炎症状态的见解。自然杀伤 (NK) 细胞是有效的效应细胞，可产生促炎细胞因子。更好地了解肺 BAL 中 NK 细胞的生物学对于改善纤维化 ILD 的发病机制和开发前瞻性靶向治疗是必要的。我们的目的是分析 159 名不同 ILD 患者的 BAL 中 NK 和 NKT 样细胞百分比：f-HP、f-NSIP、IPF 和 CTD-ILD，以评估它们的潜在诊断/预后作用。BAL NK 细胞百分比在 IPF 中的值显着高于 f-HP 和 f-NSIP，而 BAL NKT 样细胞在 f-NSIP 中的值显着低于 f-HP 和 IPF。IPF 的 BAL 中 4% NK 细胞的截止值显示出存活率的显着差异。