Serum levels of endocan and endoglin are associated with large-artery atherosclerotic stroke.

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence has suggested that endocan and endoglin may play important roles in cardiovascular disease. However, no previous study has focused on these circulating levels in patients with large-artery atherosclerotic (LAA) stroke. METHODS: Serum levels of endocan and endoglin in 114 patients with LAA stroke and 114 age- and sex-matched controls were measured by ELISA. Serum samples from patients were available on day 1, day 6 and in the 4th week after ischaemic stroke(IS). Stroke severity was determined based on the NIHSS score and the stroke volume. An unfavourable outcome was defined as a mRS score>2 on day 90 after IS. RESULTS: The endocan levels were significantly higher in patients with LAA stroke compared with the controls (p=0.001), and after adjustment for other factors (p=0.001). In addition, higher endocan levels were independently associated with unfavourable outcomes on both day 1 and day 6 after IS (p=0.018 and p=0.011). Endoglin levels were decreased on day 6 (p=0.002) and then recovered in the 4th week after IS. No correlation was found between endocan or endoglin and stroke severity. CONCLUSIONS: Endocan levels are higher in patients with LAA stroke and can help in predicting the short-term unfavourable outcome. Endoglin levels are changed after stroke.

High serum levels of sclerostin and Dickkopf-1 are associated with acute ischaemic stroke.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Sclerostin and Dickkopf-1 (Dkk-1) are potent antagonists of Wnt signalling and might therefore play important roles in cardiovascular disease. We investigated whether serum sclerostin and Dkk-1 levels are associated with acute ischaemic stroke and specific stroke subtypes. METHODS: Serum levels of sclerostin and Dkk-1 were measured by ELISA on day 1 and on day 6 after stroke in 62 patients with large artery atherosclerotic (LAA) stroke, on day 1 after stroke in 62 age- and gender-matched patients with small-artery occlusion (SAO) stroke and on admission in 62 healthy controls. Stroke severity was determined based on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and by measuring stroke volume on diffusion-weighted imaging. Outcome was measured by the modified Rankin Scale (mRS) on day 90. RESULTS: Compared with controls, serum sclerostin and Dkk-1 levels were significantly higher in both patients with LAA stroke and with SAO stroke, and no difference was detected between the stroke subtypes. Sclerostin and Dkk-1 levels remained stable between the first and sixth day after stroke in the patients with LAA stroke. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to evaluate sclerostin and Dkk-1 as markers of a high risk of stroke and produced area under curve values of 0.773 and 0.776. Adjusted logistic regression showed that serum sclerostin and Dkk-1 levels remained as independent markers of stroke. No correlations were found between sclerostin or Dkk-1 levels and stroke severity or stroke outcome. CONCLUSIONS: High serum levels of sclerostin and Dkk-1 are associated with acute ischaemic stroke.