已发表论文

桥本甲状腺炎中自然杀伤细胞的研究进展

 

Authors Wang Y , Yan Z, Miao J, Que H, Shan W

Received 9 June 2025

Accepted for publication 6 September 2025

Published 12 September 2025 Volume 2025:14 Pages 1029—1040

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/ITT.S545646

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2

Editor who approved publication: Dr Flavio Salazar-Onfray

Yanchun Wang,1,* Zhangren Yan,2,* Jianhang Miao,3 Huafa Que,4 Wei Shan4 

1College of Clinical Medicine, Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine Surgery, The Affiliated Hospital of Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine, Nanchang, Jiangxi, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of General Surgery,Zhongshan City People’s Hospital, Zhongshan, Guangdong, People’s Republic of China; 4Traditional Chinese Medicine Surgery, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China

*These authors contributed equally to this work

Correspondence: Wei Shan, Traditional Chinese Medicine Surgery, Longhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Chinese Medicine, No. 725 Wanping South Road, Shanghai, 200032, People’s Republic of China, Email Shanweifyk@163.com

Abstract: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis is one of the most common autoimmune diseases, characterized by lymphocytic infiltration, thyroid autoantibody production, and progressive thyroid destruction. Natural killer cells, as innate immune effectors, play a dual role in HT pathogenesis through cytotoxicity, death receptor signaling, inflammasome activation, and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. Recent studies using single-cell RNA sequencing have revealed functional heterogeneity of NK subsets, suggesting stage-specific roles in either amplifying or regulating inflammation. Moreover, peripheral blood from HT patients shows increased expression of activating receptors such as NKG2D and NKp30, positively correlated with thyroid autoantibody titers, while abnormal activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome drives NK cell–mediated IFN-γ release and thyroid follicular cell pyroptosis. These advances highlight NK cells as both contributors to immune imbalance and potential therapeutic targets. A better understanding of NK cell–related mechanisms will provide novel insights into disease monitoring and the development of targeted interventions for HT.

Keywords: natural killer cells, hashimoto’s thyroiditis, receptor, cytotoxicity