Association of Tim-4 expression in monocyte subtypes with clinical course and prognosis in acute ischemic stroke patients

Abstract

Background: It has been proven that T cell immunoglobin and mucin domain (Tim)-4 and monocytes (Mo) are involved in regulation of immunity, which is important for the recovery of acute ischemic stroke (AIS).

Methods: In this study, the expression of Tim-4 in both circulating Mo subtypes and plasma in 32 consecutive AIS patients and 32 control patients was assessed to determine their correlation with the clinical course and prognosis of AIS.

Results: It was found that, compared to the control patients, the percentage of Tim-4 expression in overall Mo, classical Mo and non-classical Mo was significantly elevated after 2 and 5 days of stroke (p < 0.05), while it was promoted from 0 to 10 days of stoke in intermediate Mo (p < 0.05). Furthermore, Tim-4 expressions in non-classical Mo and intermediate Mo were obviously correlated with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores at 2 days of stroke (r = 0.351, p = 0.048; r = 0.358, p = 0.044, respectively). In poor outcome (PO) patients, the expression of Tim-4 in non-classical Mo was remarkably promoted at 2 days of stroke in comparison with non-PO patients (p < 0.05). More importantly, our results revealed a positive correlation between Tim-4 expression in non-classical Mo and interleukin (IL)-6 plasma levels in AIS patients without infection.

Conclusion: In summary, our findings proved that Tim-4 expression in non-classical Mo could be an appropriate target for the prediction of the clinical course and prognosis in AIS patients.

Keywords:

• Acute ischemic stroke
• immunity
• T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 4
• monocyte subtype
• IL-6
• prognosis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Authorship contributions

All authors participated in the study and took responsibility for reliability of the data. Zhinan Ye, Yingying Jin, Haijun Li, Ying Chen, Yingye He and Hao Xu performed the experiments and collected the data. Zhinan Ye, Yingying Jin and Haijun Li analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript.

Compliance with ethical standard

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Zhoushan Hospital, China (No.2015-12). All participants or legal guardians provided a signed written informed consent.

Availability of data and materials

The dataset supporting the conclusions of this article is available in the repository

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Science and Technology Bureau of Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, P. R. China (No. 2014C31067).