title: Characteristics of the peripheral T cell immune response of patients at different stages of vascular cognitive impairment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the characteristics of the peripheral T cell immune response of patients at different stages of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  61 Arterial atherosclerotic cerebral infarct induced VCI patients, including 28 vascular dementia (VaD) cases, 33 no dementia (VCI-ND) cases, and 25 atherosclerotic cerebral infarct patients with normal cognitive function (CI-NC) as controls were enrolled. Peripheral CD8(+)T, CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg, CD4(+)IL-17(+) Th17 cells proportion, and IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IFN-γ levels, and neuropsychological function were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no difference in average age, gender ratio, years of education, and risk factors of infarct among the three groups. Peripheral CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg in VCI-ND and VaD groups were significantly lower than that in controls, and CD8(+) T cells were markedly elevated in VaD group. The IL-17(+) Th17 cell proportion did not differ significantly among three groups. IL-6 and IFN-γ expression levels in VaD group were higher than those in other two groups. The VDAS-Cog executive function subscale score was negatively correlated with CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg proportion in VCI patients, and positively correlated with IL-6 levels.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VCI patients demonstrated a decrease in peripheral CD4(+) Treg proportion and increased IL-6 expression, and both parameters were correlated with the decline of executive functions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China; Laboratory of Brain Medical Central, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guoping
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Diagnosis and Treatment for Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China.
authors.forename: Wu
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China.
authors.forename: Liu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiaoyan
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Brain Medical Central, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fangping
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhongqin
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China; Laboratory of Brain Medical Central, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China. Electronic address: luobenyan@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Luo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benyan
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D018655:Lymphocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C508717:IL17A protein, human; D020381:Interleukin-17; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D007376:Interleukin-2; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit; D015850:Interleukin-6; D007371:Interferon-gamma
keywords: CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg; IL-6; T Cellular immunity; VDAS-Cog; Vascular cognitive impairment