Hepatic ischemic reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major complication of liver transplantation and resectional hepatic surgeries. Natural killer T (NKT) cells predominate in liver, where they recognize lipid antigens bound to CD1d molecules. Type I NKT cells use a semi-invariant T-cell receptor and react with -galactosylceramide; type II NKT cells use diverse T-cell receptors. Some type II NKT cells recognize the self-glycolipid sulfatide. It is not clear whether or how these distinct NKT cell subsets mediate hepatocellular damage after IRI.
