Badovinac, V. (6603057711)V. (6603057711)BadovinacBoggiano, C. (6701588802)C. (6701588802)BoggianoTrajković, V. (7004516866)V. (7004516866)TrajkovićFrey, A.B. (7102846668)A.B. (7102846668)FreyVujanović, N.L. (7003467079)N.L. (7003467079)VujanovićGold, D.P. (7201806702)D.P. (7201806702)GoldMostarica-Stojković, M. (6701741422)M. (6701741422)Mostarica-StojkovićVukmanović, S. (35552076100)S. (35552076100)Vukmanović2025-07-022025-07-021998https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2567.1998.00567.xhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0031661782&doi=10.1046%2fj.1365-2567.1998.00567.x&partnerID=40&md5=68c7ffbc8148feb7e9e61780de5df6fehttps://remedy.med.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/14629Cells expressing markers of both natural killer and T lymphocytes (NK T cells) in humans and mice express a restricted T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, are of CD4 - CD8 - or CD4 + CD 8- phenotype, and upon anti-CD3 stimulation secrete large amounts of interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). NK T cells may be the primary source of IL-4-promoting T helper type 2 (Th2) responses and/or they might be involved in regulating the balance between Th1- and Th2-type immune responses, and may consequently affect susceptibility to autoimmune diseases associated with a skewed Th phenotype. We show that rat NK T cells selectively proliferate to IL-2, and sse this fact to analyse cytokine production by NK T cells in two rat strains differentially susceptible to Th1- or Th2-type autoimmune diseases. Analysis by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction revealed that, in contrast to mouse, rat NK T cells secrete exclusively IFN-γ and not IL-4 after anti- CD3 stimulation, and use a wider TCR-Vβ repertoire, suggesting that rat NK T cells are not essential for the development of Th2-type CD4 + T-cell responses.