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The following is a summary of “Association of inflammatory cytokines expression in cerebrospinal fluid with the severity and prognosis of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage,” published in the January 2024 issue of Neurology by Gu et al.

Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) inflammatory cytokine levels at initial admission predict diagnosis and prognosis in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH).

They involved 100 patients with acute SICH at the Department of Neurosurgery, with 50 individuals without central nervous system (CNS) pathology as controls. CSF samples, collected upon hospital entry, underwent quantitative assessment for 10 inflammatory cytokines using the Mesoscale Discovery Platform (MSD, Rockville, MD, USA) electrochemiluminescence technology, validated through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

The results showed a significant increase in IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α levels in the CSF of the SICH subgroup compared to controls. Higher Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores in SICH patients were associated with lower CSF concentrations of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α, indicating an inverse relationship. Notably, SICH patients with hydrocephalus exhibited consistently higher CSF inflammatory cytokine levels than those without. The (Glasgow Outcome Scale, GOS 1–3)  group displayed higher IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α increases in CSF than the GOS 4–5 group. The prognostic AUC values for SICH were 75.0%, 72.8%, 71.7%, and 74.3%.

Investigators concluded that SICH patients’ initial CSF levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α predict neural damage and offer robust prognostic clues.

Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-023-03487-x