Phospho-NF-κB p65, A_2AR, and IFN-γ expression in iNKT cells of controls and patients in steady state and pVOC (stages 2 and 3, respectively) at time 0 (preinfusion). (A) Flow cytometry plot of iNKT cells from controls and patients in steady state and pVOC at time 0. (B) Phospho-NF-κB p65, A_2AR, and IFN-γ expression in iNKT cells compared with CD3⁺ non-iNKT cells at time 0. Solid peaks represent expression in iNKT cells and dashed peaks represent expression in CD3⁺ non-iNKT cells. Activation gate is defined as increased expression relative to CD3⁺ non-iNKT cells. Percent of iNKT cells in the activation gate is reported. (C) iNKT cell inflammatory marker data at time 0 for controls (white boxes), patients in steady state (stage 2, hatched boxes), and pVOC (stage 3, dark gray boxes). Lower end of box denotes 25% of data, upper end of box denotes 75% of data, and median is the line within the box. Error bars are the lowest and highest data points within 1.5 times the interquartile range, and circles represent outliers.