Elevated Systemic IL-10 Levels Indicate Immunodepression Leading to Nosocomial Infections after Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH) in Patients
Shafqat Rasul Chaudhry, Ulf D. Kahlert, Thomas M. Kinfe, Alf Lamprecht, Mika Niemelä, Daniel Hänggi, Sajjad Muhammad
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is a highly complex disease with very high mortality and morbidity. About one-third of SAH patients suffer from systemic infections, predominantly pneumonia, that can contribute to excess mortality after SAH. Immunodepression is probably the most important mechanism leading to infections. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a master regulator of immunodepression, but it is still not clear if systemic IL-10 levels contribute to immunodepression, occurrence of infections and clinical outcome after SAH. METHODS: This explorative study included 76 patients with SAH admitted to our neurointensive care unit within 24 h after ictus. A group of 24 patients without any known intracranial pathology were included as controls. Peripheral venous blood was withdrawn on day 1 and day 7 after SAH. Serum was isolated by centrifugation and stored at -80 °C until analysis. Serum IL-10 levels were determined by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA). Patient characteristics, post-SAH complications and clinical outcome at discharge were retrieved from patients' record files. RESULTS: Serum IL-10 levels were significantly higher on day 1 and day 7 in SAH patients compared to controls. Serum IL-10 levels were significantly higher on day 7 in patients who developed any kind of infection, cerebral vasospasm (CVS) or chronic hydrocephalus. Serum IL-10 levels were significantly higher in SAH patients discharged with poor clinical outcome (modified Rankin Scale (mRS) 3-6 or Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) 1-3). CONCLUSION: Serum IL-10 might be an additional useful parameter along with other biomarkers to predict post-SAH infections.