Dysregulated expression of T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3 is associated with the disease severity and the outcome of patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the expression of T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain 3 (Tim-3) on peripheral blood cells in spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients and to analyze its clinical significance.
Design and Methods: Tim-3 expression on peripheral immunocytes from ICH patients and healthy volunteers was measured by flow cytometry. The correlation between Tim-3 expression and the clinical indices was estimated using linear regression.
Results: Tim-3 expressions on peripheral CD3⁺ T cells and CD8⁺ T cells in ICH patients are significantly downregulated, while Tim-3 expressions on CD14⁺ monocytes and CD16⁺CD56⁺ NK cells are increased. Furthermore, Tim-3 expression on peripheral CD8⁺ cells was negatively correlated with the inflammatory response, the disease severity and the outcome of ICH patients. However, there was no relationship between Tim-3 expression and blood glucose concentration.
Conclusions: Altered expression of Tim-3 might play an important role in the pathogenesis of ICH, demonstrating that Tim-3 might be a novel candidate molecule for prognosis evaluation of ICH patients.
(Copyright © 2013 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)