Interleukin-10 Shown to Reduce Stroke Damage

The results were published in the February 21 rapid access issue of Stroke.

In the study, researchers took blood samples from 231 ischemic stroke patients when admitted to a hospital. From the samples, they determined the levels of IL-10 and IL-4. The average time from stroke onset to admission was 8.2 hours. Samples were collected from 80% of patients within 12 hours and from 50% within six hours. Samples were also collected from 43 patients admitted without neurologic disorders, as controls.

The results showed that patients with low levels of IL-10 during the first hours after a stroke were three times more likely to have worsening neurologic symptoms. Specifically, IL-10 concentrations of less than 6 pg/ml were independently associated with clinical worsening within 48 hours. No link was found between stroke progression and IL-4 levels.

"Overall, this study reinforces the growing evidence that anti-inflammatory processes play a major role in human acute ischemia and suggests that IL-10 may have a potential role as a neuroprotectant in acute vascular syndromes,” said co-author Angel Chamorro, M.D., Clinical Institute of Nervous System Diseases (Barcelona, Spain). Dr. Chamorro notes that patients with very low levels of IL-10 may be good candidates for studies of experimental drugs designed to protect brain cells.