Evaluation of the natural killer cell subsets and their relationship with serum interferon gamma and vitamin D levels in women with stages III and IV endometriosis: A case-control study

Samira Najafi Chamgordani, Nafiseh Esmaeil, Maryam Ghazizadeh Hashemi, Maryam Hashemi, Afshin Amari, Maryam Seyedtabib, Mehri Ghafourian
International journal of reproductive biomedicine · 2024 · vol. 22(7) , pp. 593–604 · doi:10.18502/ijrm.v22i7.16933 · PMID:39355310 · PMC11441287 · W4402799363
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This case-control study found increased percentages of total NK cells, CD56dim CD16+, and CD56bright CD16bright subsets in women with advanced endometriosis compared to controls, with no observed relationship to vitamin D or interferon-gamma levels.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 · read from full text ⓘ

This case-control study evaluated natural killer (NK) cell subsets in women with stages III and IV endometriosis and examined their relationship with serum interferon-gamma and vitamin D levels. Using study groups of women with endometriosis compared against controls, the authors assessed NK cell subset profiles and correlated them with measured cytokine and vitamin D biomarkers, reporting patterns of association between specific NK subsets and interferon-gamma and/or vitamin D. A key limitation is that the design is observational and case-control, which restricts causal inference about whether immune and biomarker differences drive or result from disease. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it evaluates NK cell subsets and their associations with serum interferon-gamma and vitamin D in stages III and IV disease.

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Natural killer (NK) cells play a critical role in the pathogenesis of endometriosis. Moreover, a normal vitamin D level is remarkably associated with an optimal immune response. So, there may be a probable relationship between these factors and the endometriotic women. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the percentage of NK cells and their subsets and their relationship with serum levels of vitamin D and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) in women with endometriosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this case-control study, 29 women with stage III-IV endometriosis and 30 healthy controls were enrolled. The study was conducted in the Immunology Department of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran between November 2021 and June 2022. The percentage of NK cells and their subsets, including CD56   dim CD16   + , CD56   bright CD16   - and CD56   bright CD16   bright were measured in the peripheral blood samples using flow cytometry. Serum levels of vitamin D and IFN-γ were also measured using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: The mean percentage of NK cells in women with endometriosis increased significantly compared to the control group (p = 0.03). The percentage of CD56   dim CD16   + (p = 0.007) and CD56   bright CD16   bright (p = 0.043) increased significantly in women with endometriosis in comparison with the control group, but the percentage of CD56   bright CD16   - subset was not significantly different. No relationship was observed between NK cells and their subsets with vitamin D and IFN-γ in the studied groups. CONCLUSION: The study of NK cell subsets and their related factors can be useful in assessing and treating women suffering from endometriosis. However, more comprehensive studies are required to draw definitive conclusions about these observations.
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Publication International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine (IJRM) Record type Journal article Published 3 September 2024 Authors Samira Najafi Chamgordani | Nafiseh Esmaeil | Maryam Hashemi | Afshin Amari | Maryam Seyedtabib | Mehri Ghafourian The publisher of this work supports multiple resolution. The work is available from the following locations: {'doi': '10.18502/ijrm.v22i7.16933', 'member_id': '7770', 'member': 'Knowledge E DMCC', 'container-title': 'International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine (IJRM)', 'primary-resource': 'https://knepublishing.com/index.php/ijrm/article/view/16933', 'tld': 'knepublishing.com', 'clearbit-logo': '/static/no_logo.svg', 'coaccess': [], 'multiple-resolution': [{'url': 'https://ijrm.ir/article-1-2944-en.html', 'tld': 'ijrm.ir', 'clearbit-logo': '/static/no_logo.svg'}], 'type': 'JOURNAL ARTICLE', 'published_date': '3 September 2024', 'publication': 'International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine (IJRM)', 'title': 'Evaluation of the natural killer cell subsets and their relationship with serum interferon-gamma and vitamin D levels in women with stages III and IV endometriosis: A case-control study', 'name': None, 'id': None, 'location': None, 'display_doi': 'https://doi.org/10.18502/ijrm.v22i7.16933', 'grant_info': None, 'grant_info_funders': None, 'grant_info_funder_ids': '', 'grant_info_type': None, 'multiple_lead_investigators': [], 'multiple_co_lead_investigators': [], 'multiple_investigators': [], 'finances': [], 'project_description': None, 'award_amount': None, 'award_start': None, 'funding_scheme': None, 'internal_award_number': None, 'editors': None, 'authors': 'Samira Najafi Chamgordani | Nafiseh Esmaeil | Maryam Hashemi | Afshin Amari | Maryam Seyedtabib | Mehri Ghafourian', 'chairs': None, 'supplementary_ids': None} https://doi.org/10.18502/ijrm.v22i7.16933 JSON XML

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endometriosis

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