Relationship between serum ILs,IFN-γ and TNF-α and cerebral infarction area and neurological function in elderly patients with cerebral infarction

Dai Wen; Zhang Chenggang; Zhou Yifeng; Liu Tao; Yang Zheng

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1671-6450.2025.02.007

Abstract：Objective To investigate the relationship of serum interleukins(ILs),interferon γ(IFN-γ)and tumor necrosis factor α(TNF-α)with infarction area and neurological function in elderly patients with cerebral infarction(CI).Methods One hundred and six elderly patients with CI(CI group)in Department of Neurology of the First People's Hospi-tal of Chuzhou were selected from January 2019 to December 2024,and they were divided into mild-to-moderate subgroup(76 cases)and severe subgroup(30 cases)according to the degree of neurological impairment.Another 50 healthy elderly people with physical examination during the same period were included in the healthy control group.The levels of serum ILs(IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10),IFN-γ and TNF-α were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA),and the infarction area was evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging(MR).Pearson correlation analysis was performed to analyze the correla-tion between serum ILs,IFN-γ and TNF-α levels and infarction area and neurological function in CI patients.Receiver oper-ating characteristic(ROC)curve was applied to assess the predictive value of serum ILs,IFN-γ and TNF-α levels on poor prognosis in elderly CI patients.Results The levels of serum IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,IFN-γ and TNF-α in the CI group were higher than those in the healthy control group(t=9.795,9.709,10.756,10.660,9.784,9.726,P＜0.001).Serum IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,IFN-γ,TNF-α,infarction area and mRS score in the poor prognosis subgroup were higher than those in the good progno-sis subgroup while the Barthel index score was lower than that in the good prognosis subgroup(t=8.121,9.004,9.468,8.552,7.665,8220,8.404,9.874,9343,all P＜0.001).Pearson correlation analysis suggested that serum levels of IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,IFN-γ and TNF-α were positively correlated with infarction area(r=0523,0.467,0572,0.498,0534,0589,all P＜0.001)and mRS score(r=0.475,0.423,0.518,0.455,0.491,0.541,all P＜0.001),and were negatively correlated with Barthel index(r=-0.489,-0.439,-0534,-0.471,-0507,-0.562,all P＜0.001).The AUCs of serum IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,IFN-γ,TNF-α and combination of six fac-tors in predicting poor prognosis in elderly patients with CI were 0.963,0.934,0.908,0.921,0.862,0.885,0.999 respectively.The AUC of the combination of six factors was greater than that of serum IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,IFN-γ or TNF-α alone(Z=27.481,19.355,13.150,16.461,10289,10.674,all P＜0.001).Conclusion Serum IL-2,IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,IFN-γ and TNF-α are close-ly related to infarction area and neurological function in elderly CI patients.The higher the levels of inflammatory factors,the larger the infarction area,and the more serious the neurological impairment.