IL-6 and stroke recurrence in ischemic stroke
Creators: name: Jiang, Yuanfeng
name: Fan, Tao
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2024
Subjects: subject: Medicine
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: Science Policy

description: <b>Objective:</b> This study aimed to evaluate the predictive value of IL-6 for stroke recurrence in acute ischemic stroke. <b>Methods:</b> Patients who were admitted within 48 h of onset were included. At 3-month, stroke recurrence was assessed. IL-6 levels were measured in serum samples taken upon admission. <b>Results:</b> Out of the 305 patients, 47 (15.4%) experienced a stroke recurrence. The risk of stroke recurrence increased by 8% (OR: 1.08; 95% CI: 1.04–1.11; <i>p</i> &lt; 0.001) for every 1 pg/ml increase in IL-6 serum level, both in unadjusted and adjusted analyses (6%; OR: 1.06; 95% CI: 1.02–1.10; <i>p</i> = 0.001). <b>Conclusion:</b> The study supports the usefulness of IL-6 as a predictive biomarker for stroke recurrence after acute ischemic stroke. Proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of stroke, with some proinflammatory cytokines being released early after brain ischemia and contributing to neurologic decline. The results of this study indicate that the serum level of IL-6 is an independent prognostic marker for stroke recurrence in patients with ischemic stroke. The predictive value of IL-6 is comparable to that of the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score, but better than other parameters. In addition, the serum level of IL-6 is associated with both the clinical severity of the stroke at admission and a poor functional prognosis. Early prediction of recurrence events in hospitalized stroke patients can help optimize the use of medical resources and enable targeted preventive and therapeutic interventions. In this study, IL-6 showed promise as a predictive biomarker, making it a strong candidate for a multimarker panel. Thus, examining the IL-6 response during the acute phase could aid in improving treatment and prognosis of ischemic stroke. IL-6R blockade might represent a valid therapeutic target for lowering cardiovascular risk and should thus be further investigated in clinical trials. Evidence highlights the importance of inflammation across multiple stroke etiologies and suggests the potential benefits of targeting inflammation for secondary stroke prevention. Reducing recurrence by addressing inflammation is a compelling strategy and several randomized controlled trials are currently underway. The observational nature of the study precludes establishing a causal relationship. Future clinical studies are needed to confirm whether reducing IL-6 concentrations can decrease the incidence of stroke. In addition, the study did not perform a polygenic analysis of IL-6. Thirdly, due to the limited number of patients, we did not analyze the relationship between stroke subtypes and IL-6. Future research should further investigate the association between IL-6 and stroke subtypes.