Stroke is accompanied by local inflammatory response and systemic immunosuppression. Immunosuppression markers are associated with the occurrence of medical complications (infections), whereas inflammatory markers are associated with worse functional prognosis.
This prospective study tries to validate in acute stroke patients the prognostic usefulness of a panel of immune biomarkers that have previously been associated with various clinical outcomes. The immune biomarkers will be assessed at admission, at day 1 after admission and at day 90. The assessed immune biomarker panel includes:
* Serum cortisol levels.
* Serum interleukin (IL)-10 levels.
* Proportion of circulating B lymphocytes (CD3-CD19+ cells).
* Monocyte surface expression of TLR4, HLA-DR, CD86, and VLA-4.
* Ex - vivo production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in monocytes after stimulation with LPS.
* Proportion of each of the circulating monocyte subpopulations (CD14highCD16-, CD14highCD16+, and CD14dimCD16+).
The identification of beneficial and harmful immune responses in cerebral ischemia will allow the prediction of the clinical course of the patients and will be helpful in designing immunomodulatory therapeutic strategies for acute stroke.
