Figure 1.

Impaired IFN-γ synthesis of CD56^bright NK cells after severe trauma correlates with reduced expression of the IL-12Rβ2 chain. PBMCs were isolated from healthy donors (c) and trauma patients (t) 8 day after trauma. Cells were exposed to heat-killed S. aureus. After 18 h, the IFN-γ synthesis and IL-12Rβ2 expression were determined by flow cytometry. (A) Gating strategy of CD3⁻CD56^bright NK cells. Representative dot plots are shown. Numbers indicate the percentage of positive cells. (B,C) Cumulative results of the percentage of IFN-γ⁺ cells (B; n = 13) and IL-12Rβ2⁺ cells (C; n = 13) among CD56^bright NK cells. Horizontal lines indicate the median/interquartile range. Statistical differences between control and trauma were tested using the Mann-Whitney U-test. (D) Spearman correlation between the percentage of IL-12Rβ2⁺ and IFN-γ⁺ CD56^bright NK cells. **p < 0.01.