Background and purpose: Anti-inflammatory cytokine and its genetic variations may play an important role in the process of atherosclerosis. We assessed whether serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) and its genetic variations are associated with ischemic stroke in a Chinese general population.
Methods: An epidemiological survey on cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors was carried in a general population in Beijing in 2005. Serum IL-10, IL-6, p-selectin, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and C-reactive protein were analyzed using ELISA kits, while three IL-10 Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) (rs1800872, rs1554286 and rs3021094) were genotyped in 1475 participants.
Results: A high serum IL-10 (top tertile) was significantly associated with ischemic stroke (multivariable adjusted odds ratio (OR) =0.50; 95%CI 0.31-0.81). Rs1800872 (AA vs. AC+CC genotype, OR=1.60; 1.06-2.39), rs1554286(TT vs. CT+CC genotype, OR=1.59; 1.06-2.39), and rs3021094 (CC/CA vs. AA genotype, OR=1.64; 1.04-2.60) were all significantly associated with ischemic stroke even after controlling for age, sex, smoking, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, glucose, body mass index and serum IL-10. The SNP score (a summary index of these SNPs) and IL-10 (top tertile) together significantly improved the discriminative power in predicting ischemic stroke by 3.3% (95%CI: 0.2-6.4, p=0.0398) compared to predictions based on conventional risk factors alone.
Conclusions: The lower serum IL-10 concentration and its selected genetic variations were significantly associated with an increased likelihood of ischemic stroke in this cross-sectional study. Our results suggest that more prospective studies should be conducted to provide stronger evidence justifying the use of IL-10 and its SNPs as new biomarkers to identify a predisposition towards ischemic stroke.