Correlation between thrombus composition and regulatory T cell counts with clinical outcomes of acute ischemic stroke...

To analyze the relationship of thrombus composition and regulatory T cell expression with clinical outcome in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients with thrombectomy.

A total of 44 AIS patients who underwent thrombectomy in the Department of Neurology of Shaoxing Hospital from June 2021 to October 2022 were enrolled. All thrombus specimens were subjected to hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemistry. Semi-quantitative analysis was performed to determine the content of red blood cells, fibrinogen/platelets, and regulatory T (CD4⁺CD25⁺) cells. Clinical data, vascular recanalization status, and neurologic outcomes at 3 months after thrombectomy were collected. A modified Rankin Scale score of 0-2 was defined as a favorable outcome.

Among 44 patients with complete thrombus data there were 15 cases of red cell type, 11 cases of mixed type and 18 cases of fibrin/platelet type. There was a significant difference in trial of ORG 10172 in acute stroke treatment (TOAST) etiological classification among the three groups (P<0.01), while no significant differences were found in other general clinical and surgical data (all P>0.05). According to the TOAST etiology, 28 cases were classified as large atherosclerosis type and 16 cases as cardioembolic type. The proportion of red blood cells in thrombus was significantly higher in patients with large atherosclerosis type than that in those with cardioembolic type [58.0% (44.2%, 72.5%) vs. 24.5% (12.7%, 48.0%), P<0.01]. The ratio of fibrin to platelet in patients with cardiogenic embolism was significantly higher than that in patients with large atherosclerosis [73.0% (49.2%, 84.5%) vs. 40.0% (25.2%, 54.5%), P<0.01). Among the 44 patients, 19 had good while 25 had poor neurological outcomes. Univariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that age, operation time, CD4⁺CD25⁺T cell number were correlated with the functional outcomes of the patients (all P<0.05). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that thrombus CD4⁺CD25⁺T cell count was an independent factor affecting the functional outcome of patients (OR=1.369, 95%CI: 1.101-1.701, P<0.01).

There is no significant correlation of erythrocyte and fibrin/platelet components in thrombus with functional outcome in AIS patients, but an increased count of regulatory T cells associates with good functional outcome.