Fig. 2

Characterization of T-cell compartment dynamics post-stroke and their correlations with stroke severity. A Representative FACS plots showing the flow cytometric gating strategy used to identify T-cell compartments, including T_N (CD45RA⁺CCR7⁺), T_CM (CD45RA⁻CCR7⁺), T_EM (CD45RA⁻CCR7⁻), and T_EMRA (CD45RA⁺CCR7⁻) cells within CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ cells. B Frequency and distribution of T cell compartments among CD4⁺ T cells in VRFC and AIS patients. Data are represented as percentages of total CD4⁺ T cells. The pie chart shows the mean relative proportions of different T cell compartments within the CD4⁺ T cell population in VRFC and AIS patients. Correlation plots of the baseline CD4⁺ T_N (C) and CD4⁺ T_EM (D) cell frequency with NIHSS score. E Frequency and distribution of T cell compartments among CD8⁺ T cells in VRFC and AIS patients. Data are represented as percentages of total CD8⁺ T cells. The pie chart shows the mean relative proportions of different T cell compartments within the CD8⁺ T cell population in VRFC and AIS patients. F Correlation plots of the baseline CD8⁺ T_N cell frequency with NIHSS score. Data in B and E are presented as scatter plots showing mean values with SD. For correlations, the regression line and standard error are shown. Statistical comparisons between AIS and VRFC patients were performed via generalized linear models (age, sex, smoking, drinking, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus were included in the model during analysis). Statistical comparisons between baseline and 7-day data among AIS patients were made using the Mann‒Whitney U test. Correlation analysis was conducted with Spearman’s rank correlation test. p values < 0.05 are considered statistically significant. ns indicates not significant or p ≥ 0.05; *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001. Abbreviations: T_EMRA cell, terminally differentiated effector memory T cell; T_EM cell, effector memory T cell; T_CM cell, central memory T cell; T_N cell, naïve T cell