title: Characterization of Peripheral Immune Cell Subsets in Patients with Acute and Chronic Cerebrovascular Disease: A Case-Control Study.
abstract: Immune cells (IC) play a crucial role in murine stroke pathophysiology. However, data are limited on the role of these cells in ischemic stroke in humans. We therefore aimed to characterize and compare peripheral IC subsets in patients with acute ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack (AIS/TIA), chronic cerebrovascular disease (CCD) and healthy volunteers (HV). We conducted a case-control study of patients with AIS/TIA (n = 116) or CCD (n = 117), and HV (n = 104) who were enrolled at the University Hospital Würzburg from 2010 to 2013. We determined the expression and quantity of IC subsets in the three study groups and performed correlation analyses with demographic and clinical parameters. The quantity of several IC subsets differed between the AIS/TIA, CCD, and HV groups. Several clinical and demographic variables independently predicted the quantity of IC subsets in patients with AIS/TIA. No significant changes in the quantity of IC subsets occurred within the first three days after AIS/TIA. Overall, these findings strengthen the evidence for a pathophysiologic role of IC in human ischemic stroke and the potential use of IC-based biomarkers for the prediction of stroke risk. A comprehensive description of IC kinetics is crucial to enable the design of targeted treatment strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. kraft_p1@ukw.de.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kraft
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. Drechsler_c@ukw.de.
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Drechsler
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. schuhmann_m@ukw.de.
authors.forename: Michael K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Schuhmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. Gunreben_i@ukw.de.
authors.forename: Ignaz
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gunreben
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University Hospital Würzburg, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. kleinschni_c@ukw.de.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kleinschnitz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers
keywords: biomarker; chronic cerebrovascular disease; immune cells; ischemic stroke; leukocytes; lymphocytes; monocytes; regulatory T cells; thromboinflammation