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. 2020 Feb 28;20(1):68.
doi: 10.1186/s12883-020-01648-w.

Regulatory T cells participate in the recovery of ischemic stroke patients

María Santamaría-Cadavid  1 , Emilio Rodríguez-Castro  1 , Manuel Rodríguez-Yáñez  1 , Susana Arias-Rivas  1 , Iria López-Dequidt  1 , María Pérez-Mato  1 , Manuel Rodríguez-Pérez  1 , Ignacio López-Loureiro  1 , Pablo Hervella  1 , Francisco Campos  1 , José Castillo  1 , Ramón Iglesias-Rey  2 , Tomás Sobrino  3
Affiliations

Regulatory T cells participate in the recovery of ischemic stroke patients

María Santamaría-Cadavid et al. BMC Neurol. .

Abstract

Background: Recent preclinical studies have shown that regulatory T cells (Treg) play a key role in the immune response after ischemic stroke (IS). However, the role of Treg in human acute IS has been poorly investigated. Our aim was to study the relationship between circulating Treg and outcome in human IS patients.

Methods: A total of 204 IS patients and 22 control subjects were recruited. The main study variable was good functional outcome at 3 months (modified Rankin scale ≤2) considering infarct volume, Early Neurological Deterioration (END) and risk of infections as secondary variables. The percentage of circulating Treg was measured at admission, 48, 72 h and at day 7 after stroke onset.

Results: Circulating Treg levels were higher in IS patients compared to control subjects. Treg at 48 h were independently associated with good functional outcome (OR, 3.5; CI: 1.9-7.8) after adjusting by confounding factors. Patients with lower Treg at 48 h showed higher frequency of END and risk of infections. In addition, a negative correlation was found between circulating Treg at 48 h (r = - 0.414) and 72 h (r = - 0.418) and infarct volume.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that Treg may participate in the recovery of IS patients. Therefore, Treg may be considered a potential therapeutic target in acute ischemic stroke.

Keywords: Early neurological deterioration; Interleukin-10; Ischemic stroke; Neuroinflammation; Regulatory T cells; Risk factors.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Temporal pattern of % Treg (a) and IL-10 levels (pg/mL) (b) at admission, 48 and 72 h and day 7
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Association between mRS score at 3 months and circulating levels of Treg at admission (a), 48 h (b), 72 h (c) and day 7 (d)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Association between circulating Treg and serum levels of IL-10 at admission (a), 48 h (b), 72 h (c) and day 7 (d)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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