{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T20:29:06Z","timestamp":1790972946956,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778112000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Carotid atherosclerosis progression involves complex immune-inflammatory responses, but the interplay within its microenvironment between the macrophage marker sCD163 and the Th1\/NK cell-recruiting chemokine CXCL10 remains unclear.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To investigate the correlations between serum levels of sCD163 and CXCL10 and the profiles of inflammatory cytokines, immune cell subsets, and 12-month radiological progression in patients with carotid atherosclerosis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We enrolled 82 patients with carotid atherosclerosis from January 2022 to December 2024, along with 82 healthy controls from concurrent physical examinations. All patients had undergone baseline carotid ultrasound and a subsequent ultrasound after 12 months as part of routine clinical care. Based on these 12\u2212month imaging results, patients were retrospectively categorized as having stable disease (n=42) or radiological progression (n=40). Clinical data were collected for all subjects, and serum levels of sCD163, CXCL10, and inflammatory cytokines were measured by ELISA. Flow cytometry was used to analyze peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets. Correlations between sCD163, CXCL10, cytokines, and immune cell subsets were assessed using Pearson or Spearman analysis. The predictive value of sCD163 and CXCL10 for disease progression was evaluated by ROC curve analysis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The radiological progression group had significantly higher serum levels of sCD163, CXCL10, and inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-1\u03b2, TNF-\u03b1) (all\n                      <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0&amp;lt;\u00a00.001) compared to both the healthy control and disease-stable groups. Immune cell analysis also showed a lower CD8\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      T cell percentage and a higher CD4\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      \/CD8\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      ratio in the progression group (both\n                      <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0&amp;lt;\u00a00.001). Correlation analysis indicated that sCD163 and CXCL10 were both positively correlated with inflammatory cytokine levels and the CD4\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      \/CD8\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      ratio, and negatively correlated with the percentage of CD8\n                      <jats:sup>+<\/jats:sup>\n                      T cells (all\n                      <jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u00a0&amp;lt;\u00a00.001). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC for baseline serum CXCL10 in predicting radiological progression was 0.875 (95% CI: 0.783-0.938), and for sCD163 was 0.767 (95% CI: 0.660-0.853). The combined prediction using both markers increased the AUC to 0.913 (95% CI: 0.830-0.964).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Serum levels of sCD163 and CXCL10 are closely associated with systemic inflammatory status, immune cell imbalance, and radiological progression in patients with carotid atherosclerosis. The combined detection of these two markers demonstrates good predictive efficacy for disease progression.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1834236","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]],"date-time":"2026-05-07T04:49:07Z","timestamp":1778129347000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Clinical retrospective study on serum sCD163 and CXCL10 in the immune microenvironment of carotid atherosclerosis: association with inflammatory cytokines, immune cell subsets, and disease progression"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Hong","family":"Pan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ultrasound Medicine, Wenzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University","place":["Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Huijun","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine Gynecology, Wenzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University","place":["Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Rehabilitation Department, Wenzhou Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University","place":["Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jacc.2021.01.038","article-title":"Atherosclerotic carotid plaque composition and incident stroke and coronary events","volume":"77","author":"Bos","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Am Coll Cardiol"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcmg.2022.04.003","article-title":"Carotid plaque characteristics predict recurrent ischemic stroke and TIA: The PARISK (Plaque At RISK) study","volume":"15","author":"van Dam-Nolen","year":"2022","journal-title":"JACC Cardiovasc Imaging"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ccl.2014.09.001","article-title":"Management of extracranial carotid artery disease","volume":"33","author":"Ooi","year":"2015","journal-title":"Cardiol Clinics"},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/ana.26683","article-title":"A carotid web with atherosclerotic plaque","volume":"94","author":"Singh","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ann Neurol"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1161\/circimaging.121.013602","article-title":"Carotid plaque composition and prediction of incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease","volume":"15","author":"van der Toorn","year":"2022","journal-title":"Circ Cardiovasc Imaging"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atherosclerosis.2021.03.040","article-title":"Circulatory markers of immunity and carotid atherosclerotic plaque","volume":"325","author":"Fani","year":"2021","journal-title":"Atherosclerosis"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3174\/ajnr.a7384","article-title":"Proximal region of carotid atherosclerotic plaque shows more intraplaque hemorrhage: The Plaque at Risk study","volume":"43","author":"Crombag","year":"2022","journal-title":"AJNR Am J Neuroradiology"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1109\/embc48229.2022.9871632","article-title":"Prediction of the atherosclerotic plaque development in carotid arteries; 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