Assessment of acute phase proteins in acute ischemic stroke.

Acute phase proteins (APPs) have been implicated to play important roles during both acute and chronic inflammatory processes in different diseases including ischemic stroke. Though there are several studies showing the importance of APPs as inflammation markers in acute ischemic stroke (AIS), the time course of these proteins during acute phase of AIS is not well known. Thus, the aim of this study was to show the changes in plasma levels of six APPs (i.e., haptoglobin [Hp], ceruloplasmin [Cp], high-sensitive C-reactive protein [h-CRP], fibrinogen, complement 3 [C3] and complement 4 [C4]) during the first 10 days after acute stroke. The study group consisted of 34 female and 19 male patients (n = 53; mean age 65 +/- 12 years), who had first acute ischemic stroke (AIS). An age-matched control group (n = 53; 32 female and 21 male subjects, mean age 62 +/- 6 years) was also included. To evaluate the plasma levels of six APPs, the blood samples of patients with AIS were withdrawn on admission (day 1), and after 3, 5 and 10 days, whereas only one measurement was performed in the control group. In addition, several cerebrovascular risk factors were determined. The peak levels of APPs were higher in the AIS group than the control group (p < 0.0001). In serial measurements, the levels of h-CRP, Hp, C3 and C4 showed alterations during 10 days after AIS (p < 0.0001, p < 0.05, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, respectively). The alterations in levels of fibrinogen and Cp were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). After stroke, h-CRP, C3 and fibrinogen reached their highest values on the third day, Cp and C4 on the fifth day, and Hp on the tenth day. The plasma levels of h-CRP correlated positively with other five APPs studied (p < 0.05). These findings support the importance of inflammation processes after stroke. We suggest that the differences in levels of APPs could be used in predicting the outcome of stroke patients.