Decrease in circulating myeloid dendritic cell precursors in patients with intracranial large artery atherosclerosis.

Intracranial large artery atherosclerosis (ILAA) is a major cause of ischemic cerebrovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the levels of circulating dendritic cell precursors (DCP) could reflect the severity of intracranial large artery atherosclerosis (ILAA). For this purpose, a series of angiography were taken to determine the severity and extent of coronary artery and intracranial large artery stenosis, and flow cytometry were taken to determine the levels of circulating mDC precursors and pDC precursors in patients with severe intracranial large artery atherosclerosis (ILAA) (n = 101) and mild intracranial large artery atherosclerosis (ILAA) (n = 123) according to the angiography. Circulating mDC precursors were lower in patients with severe intracranial large artery atherosclerosis (ILAA) than in mild intracranial large artery atherosclerosis (ILAA) (P < 0.05), but circulating pDC precursors were not significant differences (P > 0.05). According to these data, circulating mDC precursors could predict the severity of ILAA, which also could be able to reflect the severity of ILAA.