Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in acute ischemic stroke and their relation to early neurological deficit and stroke outcome

Objectives Our aim was to explore (i) the difference in concentration of IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10 between acute ischemic stroke patients and control individuals; (ii) the association of plasma cytokine concentration with stroke severity at admission assessed by NIHSS and stroke outcome in 90 days assessed by Barthel index (BI) and modified Rankin scale (mRS). Materials and methods Study included 68 stroke patients admitted within 12 h of symptoms onset and 71 controls. Results IL-6 was increased in patients relative to controls (P = 0.035) and this increase was associated with severe stroke (P = 0.007) and worse outcome (P = 0.030 and 0.019; assessed by BI and mRS, respectively), whereas IL-10 was decreased (P = 0.044) and associated with better outcome (P = 0.043). TNF-α did not differ between studied groups (P = 0.302). Conclusions Increased IL-6 and reduced IL-10 concentrations are present in early stroke period and are associated with a degree of neurological deficit and/or stroke outcome.