Relationship between peripheral blood Th17 cells and Th17-related cytokines and postoperative cognitive dysfunction in elderly patients undergoing general anesthesia / 中华麻醉学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the relationship between perioperative peripheral blood Type 17 helper (Th17) cells and Th17-related cytokines and postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) in elderly patients undergoing general anesthesia.Methods Ninety-six patients of both sexes,aged 65-86 yr,of American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status Ⅱ or m,scheduled for elective hip replacement under general anesthesia,were selected.At 3 days before operation and 1,2,3 and 7 days after operation,Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was used to evaluate the cognitive function,and fasting venous blood samples were taken for determination of the percentage of Th17 cells and serum interleukin-17 (IL-17) and IL-22 concentrations.The patients were divided into POCD group and non-POCD group according to whether the patients developed POCD at day 7 after operation or not.Pearson linear correlation of the percentage of Th17 cells and serum IL-17 and IL-22 concentrations with MoCA scores was analyzed.Results Twenty-six patients developed POCD (27.1％).The percentage of peripheral blood Th17 cells and serum IL-17 and IL-22 concentrations were significantly higher at each time point after operation than before operation in POCD group and at 1 and 2 days after operation than before operation in non-POCD group (P＜0.05).The percentage of peripheral blood Th17 cells and serum IL-17 and IL-22 concentrations were significantly higher at each time point after operation in POCD group than in non-POCD group (P＜0.05).The percentage of peripheral blood Thl7 cells was negatively correlated with MoCA scores (r =-0.867,P＜0.01) and serum IL-17 and IL-22 concentrations were negatively correlated with MoCA scores (r=-0.662 and-0.638,P＜0.01) in group POCD.Conclusion The development of POCD is related to the increase in the percentage of peripheral blood Th17 cells and concentrations of Th17-related cytokines IL-17 and IL-22 in elderly patients undergoing general anesthesia.