163. Inflammation and post-stroke depression: Preliminary progress

• Published in: Brain, behavior, and immunity behavior, and immunity, 2014-09, Vol.40, p.e47-e47
• Main Authors: Norton, S.A, Sher-Glass, R, Mann, S, Moccio, M, Zimmerman, A.M, Menza, M, Contrada, R, Fiedler, N.L, Leventhal, H, McCarthy, D, McKinney, J, Kusnecov, A.W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Allergy and Immunology; Psychiatry
• ISSN: 0889-1591; 1090-2139
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bbi.2014.06.183

Inflammation can be a consequence of acute ischemic stroke (AIS), and a possible risk for neurobehavioral recovery. Moreover, a subset of AIS patients develop post-stroke depression (PSD), which can slow recovery and increase risk of recurrent stroke and mortality. Because proinflammatory cytokines can induce depression-like symptoms, AIS-related inflammation may influence the development of PSD. Therefore, we initiated recruitment of AIS patients to assess general and executive cognitive functioning, clinical depression, and proinflammatory cytokine levels. Assessments were conducted at three time points following hospital admission for AIS: (i) 1–2 days, (ii) 5–7 days, and (iii) 90 days. Depressive symptoms were measured using standard instruments (Hamilton Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory), with a structured diagnostic interview for clinical depression (SCID) given on Day 90. Cognitive function was measured using the RBANS. Additional measures of functional and neurological status were obtained using the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) and the NIH Stroke Scale. In this initial phase, only patients scoring mild-to-moderate on the NIHSS are included. To date, of patients completing all three assessments ( N = 9), five showed elevated plasma IL-6 on admission, which receded on subsequent days. Further, PSD at Day 90 ( N = 2 patients) was not associated with detectable IL-6 at any time point. Recruitment and assay for inflammatory indicators are ongoing to determine associations between proinflammatory cytokines, AIS and PSD.