Decreased percentage of peripheral naïve T cells is independently associated with ischemic stroke in patients on hemodialysis.

Purpose: Cerebrovascular complications, including ischemic stroke, account for poor outcomes in patients on hemodialysis. T cell responses may be involved in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke. We aimed to evaluate the role of naïve T cells in development of ischemic stroke in patients on hemodialysis.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 156 patients on hemodialysis in our blood purification center were included. These patients were divided into the ischemic stroke (IS) group (61 cases) and non-ischemic stroke (non-IS) group (95 cases) according to a new diagnosis after initiation of hemodialysis. After being lysed with red blood cell lysis solution, peripheral blood was tested by flow cytometry to detect the expression of CD45RO and CCR7 in CD4 T and CD8 T cells. Correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis were conducted to identify potential independent risk factors for ischemic stroke.

Results: The percentage of peripheral naïve T cells was lower in the IS group [median (interquartile range (IQR)) 13.9% (8.6-22.9%)] compared with the non-IS group [median (IQR) 22.7% (15.9-32.2%), P < 0.001]. Spearman correlation analysis showed that naïve T cells were negatively associated with ischemic stroke (r = -0.308, P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CD4 naïve T cells had an independent negative association with ischemic stroke in patients on hemodialysis (odds ratio 0.933, 95% CI 0.883, 0.986; P = 0.013).

Conclusion: A decrease in percentage of peripheral CD4 naïve T cells is a risk factor for ischemic stroke in patients on hemodialysis.