An important subtype of the innate-like T lymphocytes is mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells expressing a semi-invariant T cell receptor α (TCR-α) chain. MAIT cells could be activated mainly by TCR engagement or cytokines. They have been found to have essential roles in various immune mediated. There have been growing preclinical and clinical findings that show an association between MAIT cells and the physiopathology of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Of note, published reports demonstrate contradictory findings regarding the role of MAIT cells in IBD patients. A number of reports suggests a protective effect, whereas others show a pathogenic impact. The present review article aimed to explore and discuss the findings of experimental and clinical investigations evaluating the effects of MAIT cells in IBD subjects and animal models. Findings indicate that MAIT cells could exert opposite effects in the course of IBD, including an anti-inflammatory protective effect of blood circulating MAIT cells and an effector pathogenic effect of colonic MAIT cells. Another important finding is that blood levels of MAIT cells can be considered as a potential biomarker in IBD patients.

先天样 T 淋巴细胞的一个重要亚型是表达半不变 T 细胞受体 α (TCR-α) 链的粘膜相关不变 T (MAIT) 细胞。MAIT 细胞主要通过 TCR 参与或细胞因子激活。已发现它们在各种免疫介导中具有重要作用。越来越多的临床前和临床研究结果表明 MAIT 细胞与炎症性肠病 (IBD) 的病理生理学之间存在关联。值得注意的是，已发表的报告显示了关于 MAIT 细胞在 IBD 患者中的作用的相互矛盾的发现。许多报告表明其具有保护作用，而其他报告则显示出致病作用。本综述文章旨在探讨和讨论评估 MAIT 细胞对 IBD 受试者和动物模型的影响的实验和临床研究结果。研究结果表明，MAIT 细胞在 IBD 病程中可能发挥相反的作用，包括血液循环 MAIT 细胞的抗炎保护作用和结肠 MAIT 细胞的效应致病作用。另一个重要发现是 MAIT 细胞的血液水平可被视为 IBD 患者的潜在生物标志物。