Defining cerebral leukocyte populations in local ischemic blood samples from patients with hyperacute stroke

J Cereb Blood Flow Metab. 2022 May;42(5):901-904. doi: 10.1177/0271678X221078617. Epub 2022 Feb 2.

Abstract

In acute stroke, neuroinflammation can nowadays be analyzed by local cerebral aspiration of pial-ischemic blood during mechanical thrombectomy. Recently, Shaw et al. reported on differences in leukocyte subpopulations within the occluded cerebrovascular compartment. In their study, a main proportion of granulocytes was lost during isolation. By immediate analysis, we found a reproducible increase in absolute local granulocytes without variations in absolute lymphocyte and monocyte numbers. Flow-cytometric phenotyping confirmed a high proportion of granulocytes and a local shift towards CD4+ T cells. Thus, immediate analysis appears to be critical to observe distinct local responses of leukocytes to acute ischemic stroke.

Keywords: Acute ischemic stroke; T cells; flow cytometry; immune cells; leukocytes.

MeSH terms

  • Brain Ischemia*
  • Humans
  • Ischemic Stroke*
  • Leukocyte Count
  • Leukocytes / physiology
  • Lymphocytes / physiology
  • Stroke*
  • Thrombectomy / methods