Selective decrease in colonic CD56+ T and CD161+ T cells in the inflamed mucosa of patients with ulcerative colitis

Figure 4 Relation between the histologic Matts’ scores and the percentage of NKR⁺ T cells. Biopsy samples for evaluation of histology were taken from the same regions as samples for MNC purification were taken. The percentage of colonic NKR⁺ T cells was compared with the histologic Matts’ score. Levels of CD56⁺ T cells (A) and CD161⁺ T cells (B) in the colon decreased significantly as a function of the severity of inflammation. "n" indicates the number of cases. ^bP < 0.0001, ^dP < 0.005 vs Matts’ 1, ^aP < 0.05 vs Matts’ 1 or Matts’ 2. No relation was detected between the percentages of conventional T cells (CD56^-CD3⁺ or CD161^-CD3⁺ cells) in the colon and the severity of histological inflammation (C, D).