Association between serum hepatocyte growth factor and prognosis of ischemic stroke: The role of blood lipid status.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: High serum hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) levels increase the risk of ischemic stroke and are probably associated with outcomes after ischemic stroke. However, it remains unclear whether the association between HGF and ischemic stroke prognosis is modified by blood lipid status. METHODS AND RESULTS: Data were derived from the CATIS (China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke), and we measured baseline serum HGF levels in 3027 ischemic stroke patients. The primary outcome was a combination of death and major disability (modified Rankin Scale score≥3) at 2 years after ischemic stroke. Blood lipid status could modify association between HGF and ischemic stroke prognosis (Pinteraction = 0.002). After multivariate adjustment, the odds ratios of primary outcome associated with the highest tertile of HGF were 2.13 (95% CI, 1.45-3.14; Ptrend<0.001) for patients with dyslipidemia and 0.81 (95% CI, 0.54-1.22; Ptrend = 0.310) for those with normal lipids. Adding HGF to conventional risk factors improved risk prediction for primary outcome in patients with dyslipidemia (net reclassification improvement: 24.28%, P < 0.001; integrated discrimination index: 0.43%, P = 0.022) but not in those with normal lipids. Secondary analyses further revealed that HDL-C was the main lipid component to modify the prognostic significance of serum HGF among ischemic stroke patients. CONCLUSIONS: There was a modified effect of blood lipid status on the association between serum HGF and ischemic stroke prognosis. Elevated serum HGF was associated with outcomes in ischemic stroke patients with dyslipidemia, especially low HDL-C. Further studies are warranted to replicate our findings and clarify the potential biological mechanisms.