IL18 and Stroke: Another pro-inflammatory cytokine, IL-18, was also decreased in post-stroke NaB-treated group (166.2 ± 20.34 pg/ml) as compared to the levels in post-stroke saline-treated group (249.1 ± 25.49 pg/ml) at 5 days (p = 0.0366) (Fig. 5c).