Objective To investigate the expression of right open reading frame kinase 2 (RIOK2) and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) in brain gliomas and their relationships with clinicopathological features and prognosis.

Methods A total of 139 patients with brain gliomas were enrolled in this study. Brain glioma tissues and adjacent normal tissues were collected intraoperatively. The expression of RIOK2 and PD-L1 was detected by immunohistochemical staining, and their relationships with clinicopathological features and prognosis were analyzed.

Results The positive expression rates of RIOK2 and PD-L1 in brain glioma tissues were 76.26% and 72.66%, respectively, which were significantly higher than 15.11% and 18.71% in adjacent tissues (P < 0.05). Univariate analysis showed that the positive expression of RIOK2 and PD-L1 in brain glioma tissues was related to distant metastasis and World Health Organization (WHO) grading (P < 0.05), but showed no correlations with age, gender, tumor diameter, tumor location, or tumor type (P>0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis revealed that high WHO grading, distant metastasis, positive expression of RIOK2, and positive expression of PD-L1 were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with brain gliomas (P < 0.05). The 3-year follow-up results showed that 96 patients survived and 43 patients died. The positive expression rates of RIOK2 and PD-L1 in surviving patients were lower than those in deceased patients (P < 0.05).

Conclusion RIOK2 and PD-L1 are highly expressed in brain glioma tissues and are closely related to WHO grading and distant metastasis. Patients with brain gliomas who have lower positive expression rates of RIOK2 and PD-L1 have a better prognosis compared to those with higher positive expression rates.