Chaum Prof. Lee Yun-Kyung’s Team Reveals the Relationship Between Respiratory Infection and NK Cell Activity

People who experience frequent respiratory infections were found to have low NK cell activity, which is the body’s primary defense mechanism, suggesting a need for proactive immune system testing and management. 

The team led by Professor Lee Yun-kyung from the Detox Slimming Center at Life Center Chaum and Professor Kim Young-sang from the Department of Family Medicine at CHA Bundang Hospital published a paper on NK cell activity in recurrent respiratory infection patients.

The research team conducted an analysis of 311 patients who received polyvalent mechanical bacterial lysate (PMBL) therapy, which is said to prevent and treat respiratory diseases by normalizing the immune system, and 549 people in the control group who had not had any recurrent respiratory infections while receiving treatment at Chaum from 2016 to 2020. 

NK cell activity in recurrent respiratory patients before treatment was 463 pg/mL, which was less than half of the mean level of the control group, which was 962 pg/mL. 

After PMBL therapy, NK cell activity increased by 287 pg/mL on average. Within the treatment group, the low NK cell activity group (500 pg/mL or less) showed an even greater increase of 384 pg/mL on average. This illustrated that PMBL therapy was effective in enhancing the immune system in patients with recurrent respiratory infections that result in chronic inflammation. 

NK cells are immune cells that form the body’s primary defense (innate immunity) and have the ability to recognize and kill abnormal cells and cancer cells. As such, it is important to boost their activity for the immune system to work properly. 

“From the results of this study, we were able to confirm that respiratory infection patients have low NK cell activity and thus require immune system testing and management. In case of frequent recurrence of cough, phlegm, rhinitis, and so on, regular treatment, exercise, therapeutic diet, etc., are necessary to boost the immune system,” explained Professor Lee Yun-kyung from Chaum. 

She added, “In the absence of studies on the importance of increasing NK cell activity, this research has shown the possibility of applying immunotherapy to treatment of various diseases.” The research results were published in the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Medicine (JCM), a world-renowned international medical journal.

The results of the study were identical to those published in the paper, “Cross-Sectional and Time-Dependent Analyses of Inflammatory Markers Following Natural Killer Cell Activity” published in the international scientific journal, Diagnostics, this past May, thereby reaffirming the importance of NK cell activity.