Discussion
This is the first study demonstrating the increased number of NK cells and new monocyte subclusters of mild ischaemic stroke based on the transcriptomic analysis. Our findings provide the dynamics of circulating immune response that could assist diagnosis and potential therapeutic development of mild ischaemic stroke.
Methods
Transcriptomes of PBMCsfrom 10 patients who had an acute ischaemic stroke within 24 hours after stroke onset were compared with 9 race-matched/age-matched/gender-matched controls. Individual PBMCs were prepared with ddSeqTM (Illumina-BioRad) and sequenced on the Illumina NovaSeq 6000 platform.
Results
Notable population changes were observed in patients who had a stroke, especially in NK cells and CD14+ monocytes. The number of NK cells was increased, which was further confirmed by flow cytometry. Functional analysis implied that the activity of NK cells also is enhanced in patients who had a stroke. CD14+ monocytes were clustered into two groups; dendritic cell-related CD14+ monocytes and NK cell-related CD14+ monocytes. We found CD14+ monocyte subclusters were dramatically reduced in patients who had a stroke.
Trial registration
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00009243 NCT00001846.