Figure 4.

Percentage and function of natural killer (NK)p44⁺ cell subsets are altered in the microbial translocation (MT)^high and MT^low groups. Frequency of (a) NKp44⁺ NK cells and (b) NKG2A⁺NKp44⁺ NK cells in peripheral and mucosal tissues from the MT^low and MT^high groups. The expressions of IL-22, IFN-γ, and CD107a of NKp44⁺ NK cells were compared between the MT^low and MT^high groups in (c) Peyer's patches mononuclear cells (PPMCs) and (d) lamina propria mononuclear cells (LPMCs). The column bar indicates the mean of the ratio of target cells (mononuclear cells in (a) and (b); NKp44⁺ NK cells in (c) and (d)). Error bars and individual standard deviations (SD) are shown. Spearman correlation test showed that the number of IL-22⁺NKp44⁺ NK cells in PPMCs and LMPCs correlated well with plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS) levels. ^* P ≤ 0.05 and ^** P ≤ 0.01 as calculated by two-sided nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test.