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CD4⁺CD28⁻ lymphocytes and ischaemic stroke. Part I: CD4⁺CD28⁻ lymphocytes and common carotid artery intima-media thickness.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
More and more data point to the involvement of the CD4⁺CD28⁻ lymphocyte subpopulation in the pathogenesis of ischaemic stroke. This paper attempts to answer the question of whether an increase in the percentage of CD4⁺CD28⁻ lymphocytes in the blood may be associated with carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT).


MATERIAL AND METHODS
The study involved a group of 109 patients, aged 45 to 65 years, including 42 patients with first-ever ischaemic stroke, experiencing symptoms resulting from disturbances of the anterior area of cerebral circulation, arterial hypertension and/or type 2 diabetes mellitus (group 1). Group 2 consisted of 34 patients with above-mentioned risk factors but without ischaemic stroke. The control group comprised 33 healthy individuals. Distribution of sex and mean age was comparable. The IMT of carotid arteries was measured by ultrasonography. Flow cytometry was applied to determine the percentage of CD4⁺CD28⁻ lymphocytes in the peripheral blood.


RESULTS
The IMT was significantly greater in patients with stroke than in patients without stroke. No significant correlation was found between the proportion of CD4⁺CD28⁻ lymphocytes in the blood and the IMT of carotid arteries.


CONCLUSIONS
The significant proportion of CD4⁺CD28⁻ lymphocytes in patients with ischaemic stroke points to the involvement of the cells in the pathogenesis of stroke. The CD4⁺CD28⁻ lymphocytes are not involved in the pathomechanism of common carotid arteries IMT thickening in this group of patients.