Evaluation of Serum Biomarkers for Patients at Increased Risk of Stroke

Abstract EN

Early recognition of vulnerable patients is an important issue for stroke prevention.

In our study, a multiscore analysis of various biomarkers was performed to evaluate its superiority over the analysis of single factors.

Study subjects (n=110) were divided into four groups: asymptomatic patients with stable (n=25) and unstable (n=36) plaques and symptomatic patients with stable (n=13) and unstable (n=36) plaques.

Serum levels of MMP-1, -2, -3, -7, -8, -9, TIMP-1, -2, TNF-α, IL-1b, and IL-6, -8, -10, -12 were measured.

Multi-score analysis was performed using multiple receiver operating characteristics (ROC) and determination of appropriate cutoff values.

Significant differences between the groups were observed for MMP-1, -7, -9 and TIMP-1 in serum of the study subjects (P<0.05).

Multiple biomarker analysis led to a significant increase in the AUC (area under curve).

In case of plaque instability, positive predictive value (PPV) for up to 86.4% could be correctly associated with vulnerable plaques.

Thus, multiscore analysis might be preferable than the use of single biomarkers.