Circulating Interleukin-6 Levels and Timing of Acute Ischemic Stroke Onset

Intravenous thrombolysis is the most widely available effective ischemic stroke treatment, but is approved only if given within 4.5 h from stroke onset. Many patients are not treated because stroke onset time is unknown. We evaluated the cytokine interleukin 6 (IL-6) in circulating blood after acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Results show IL-6 is elevated as early as 26 min after stroke and increases over 24 h. The IL-6 levels can estimate when the stroke occurred with 80% sensitivity and 74% specificity. With refinement, a point-of-care blood test for IL-6 during stroke could substantially increase the number of stroke patients eligible for thrombolysis.