TITLE:
Elevated Plasma Levels but Decreased Platelet-Associated Expression of LIGHT in Patients with Acute Atherothrombotic Stroke
AUTHORS:
Guangzhi Liu, Yang He, Tingting Yang, Hong Jiang, Yajuan Xiang, Qi Zhang, Xiangjun He, Peter Hjelmstrom, Xuguang Gao
KEYWORDS:
LIGHT, Ischemic Atherosclerotic Stroke, Atherogenesis, Peripheral Blood
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Neuroscience,
Vol.4 No.4,
August
20,
2014
ABSTRACT: Background: As a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily (TNFSF), LIGHT (TNFSF14) is expressed by a variety of immune cells
and exists in membrane-bound and soluble forms. Recently, LIGHT was found to be
associated with platelets and released upon activation. Activation of endothelia
cells by recombinant LIGHT protein results in pro-inflammatory and
pro-thrombotic changes. Several studies have reported increased plasma levels
of LIGHT in patients with stroke and cardiovascular diseases. However, the
form-associated roles of LIGHT in ischemic atherosclerotic stroke remain unclear. Mater?als and Methods: In this study, the
platelet LIGHT expression and soluble LIGHT protein were analyzed by flow
cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in peripheral blood of
patients with acute ischemic atherosclerotic stroke, asymptomatic carotid
stenosis (ACS) and normal controls. RESULTS: During the initial 24 h
after onset, the stroke patients had decreased LIGHT expression on their
platelets (5.9% ± 4.9%) and increased plasma LIGHT levels (36.1 ± 21.0 pg/ml) as compared with normal
controls (9.5% ± 3.0%, p p p = 0.0247). Conclus?ons: The dysregulated LIGHT
expression reflects a persistent chronic inflammatory response that may have
been induced during early stages of ischemic atherosclerotic stroke. Our
results strongly suggest distinctive roles of form-associated LIGHT in the
disease pathogenesis: platelet-associated LIGHT may contribute to formation and
development of carotid atherosclerotic plaque, probably involving plaque
destabilization, while soluble LIGHT may predominantly functions as a
pro-inflammatory cytokine in the inflammatory process.