Ageing is inextricably linked to the incidence and outcome of stroke. Gullotta et al. dissected the age-related changes in the immune system’s response to stroke demonstrating that:
- Aged mice with experimental stroke show worse outcomes than the young ones
- Aged mice compared to young show an enhanced and dysregulated granulopoiesis in response to stroke
- The dysregulated granulopoiesis in aged mice is associated to an increased oxidative stress, phagocytosis and procoagulant features
- Transplantation of bone marrow cells from young mice to aged mice rebalanced circulating neutrophil subpopulations and improved stroke outcome
- Transfer of aging-associated neutrophils in young mice result in a worsen neurological outcomes of experimental ischemic stroke
- Moving to humans, the single-cell proteome profile of blood leukocytes is characterized by the presence of specific neutrophil subsets (i.e CD62Llo) in elderly stroke patients
- The analysis of neutrophils subpopulations can be a useful biomarker in human stroke
In conclusion, this brilliant study emphasizes the importance of the immune response to stroke, suggesting that in the future modulation of granulopoiesis may be a therapeutic target to improve the outcome of patients with ischemic stroke.