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Updated: Dec 19, 2025
Identifying Microglia and Peripheral Infiltrating Macrophages in the Injured Spinal Cords Using Flow Cytometry
Published on: June 24, 2025
Modulation of inflammatory factors predicts the outcome following spinal cord injury
Zepeng Yu1, Xingwei Sun1, Rui Xia2
1Department of Intervention, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, 215004, People's Republic of China.
Background:
The correlation between inflammatory responses caused by spinal cord injury (SCI) and the prognosis of patients with SCI still remains controversial.
Methods:
In the present study, we preliminary investigated the serum levels of interleukin (IL)-4, IL-10, major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-I, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and compared the serum IL-4 and IL-10 expression in rats of high Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan (BBB) scores with these of low BBB scores. Besides, the infiltration of macrophage and the axonal regeneration of the injured spinal cord were observed from day 10 to day 30.
Results:
We found that higher serum levels of IL-4 and IL-10 can reflect the restorability degree of SCI and could be potential biomarkers for the prognosis of SCI. The infiltration of the M2 subtype of macrophage and the axons regrowth might contribute to a better prognosis.
Conclusions:
The current study demonstrates that the serum levels of IL-4 and IL-10 are preliminarily adopted as serologic markers to forecast SCI, and high serum levels of IL-4 and IL-10 may indicate a better prognosis. Moreover, the way to promote macrophage polarization from M1 to M2 may contribute to better axonal regeneration.
