Longitudinal study of Natural killer cell cytotoxicity function in Australian Veterans with Gulf war illness — ASN Events
  1. Schedule
  2. Poster Session One
  3. Longitudinal study of Natural killer cell cytotoxicity function in Australian Veterans with Gulf war illness

Longitudinal study of Natural killer cell cytotoxicity function in Australian Veterans with Gulf war illness (#125)

Jessica Dwyer 1 2 , Natalie Eaton-Fitch 1 , Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik 1
  1. National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases, Southport, QLD, Australia
  2. School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, Southport, Queensland, Australia

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a multifactorial disease affecting veterans of the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War. It is characterised by a range of debilitating symptoms, including post-exertional fatigue and cognitive impairment. Previous research has documented altered cytokine signalling, the presence of autoantibodies, and T-cell dysfunction. Recently, ion channel disturbances were reported in natural killer (NK) cells of Australian veterans with GWI compared with healthy controls (HC). Despite these findings, research on the role of NK cells in GWI is limited. Therefore, this research will investigate NK cell dysfunction in GWI compared with HC.

Australian veterans suffering from GWI, fulfilling both the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Kansas case definitions, were recruited for this study, along with sex-matched HC who reported an absence of disease. A negative immunomagnetic selection kit was used to isolate NK cells from whole blood, where their cytotoxic activity was analysed through flow cytometry. Annexin V and 7-amino-actinomycin are used to label the cells for assessment of cytotoxic function and apoptosis. Cells were also stained with CD107a to determine degranulation, and Granzyme A, Granzyme B, and Perforin to assess lytic protein production. Baseline data have been collected, and 12-month follow-up data are currently being completed.

NK cell cytotoxicity activity, degranulation activity and lytic protein production will be analysed using IBM SPSS and GraphPad Prism. Cytotoxic activity of NK cells from Australian veterans with GWI and HC will be determined within and between groups using an independent t-test with a statistical significance set at p<0.05.

Immune dysfunction observed in Australian veterans with GWI could be linked to alterations in the cytotoxic activity of NK cells. This research aims to differentiate the pathophysiology of GWI from that of a healthy general population, focusing on potential aberrations in NK cell phenotypes, lytic protein production, and degranulation.