Association of Serum Levels of Pentraxin-3, M-ficolin, and Surfactant Protein A with the Severity of Ischemic Stroke

Stroke is one of the most leading causes of death and disability in the world. Complement system activation contributes to pathogenesis and neuronal damage following stroke. There are no defined biological serum markers to determine the severity of stroke in acute phases. The purpose of current study was to determine the association of three complement activators, namely Pentraxin-3 (PTX3),M-ficolin, and Surfactant protein A (SPA) with the severity of ischemic stroke. This cross-sectional study was done on 82 patients diagnosed with ischemic stroke at 24-96 hours of initiation of the clinical symptoms during 2014-2015. The serum levels of PTX3, M-ficolin, and SPA were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay ( ELISA). The patients were divided in three stroke severity groups according to modified National Institute of Health Stroke Scale mNIHSS. The results showed that the more severity of the stroke was, the higher serum levels of three evaluated molecules (p<0.001) were. The correlation of serum level of PTX3, M-ficolin, and SPA with stroke severity was 0.732, 0.736, and 0.731, respectively. There is a strong association between serum levels of PTX3, M-ficolin, and SPA with the severity of ischemic stroke. Clinically, such association may be considered to evaluate the severity of the ischemic stroke.

The pattern recognition molecule ficolin-1 exhibits differential binding to lymphocyte subsets, providing a novel link between innate and adaptive immunity

Ficolin-1 is a soluble pattern recognition molecule synthesized by myeloid cells and capable of activating the lectin pathway of complement on the surface of pathogens. It is tethered to the membranes of monocytes and granulocytes; however, the biological significance of cell-associated ficolin-1 is unknown. Recognition of healthy host cells by a pattern recognition molecule constitutes a potential hazard to self cells and tissues, emphasizing the importance of further elucidating the reported self-recognition. In the current study we investigated the potential recognition of lymphocytes by ficolin-1 and demonstrated that CD56(dim) NK-cells and both CD4(+) and CD8(+) subsets of activated T-cells were recognized by ficolin-1. In contrast we did not detect binding of ficolin-1 to CD56(bright) NK-cells, NKT-cells, resting T-cells or B-cells. Furthermore, we showed that the protein-lymphocyte interaction occurred via the pathogen-recognition domain of ficolin-1 to sialic acid on the cell surface. Thus, the differential binding of ficolin-1 to lymphocyte subsets suggests ficolin-1 as a novel link between innate and adaptive immunity. Our results provide new insight about the recognition properties of ficolin-1 and point toward additional immune modulating functions of the molecule besides its role in pathogen recognition.