Interleukin-10 Shown to Reduce Stroke Damage

A study has found that stroke patients with higher levels of a natural anti-inflammatory chemical, interleuken-10 (IL-10), in their blood have less brain damage after a stroke. 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.