Bacterial lipopolysaccharide is associated with stroke

Marisa Hakoupian,Glen C Jickling,Xinhua Zhan,Noor Alomar,Frank R Sharp,Eva Ferino,Hajar Amini,Boryana Stamova,Bradley P Ander

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-86083-8

Abstract

We aimed to determine if plasma levels of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) are associated with different causes of stroke and correlate with C-reactive protein (CRP), LPS-binding protein (LBP), and the NIH stroke scale (NIHSS). Ischemic stroke (cardioembolic (CE), large artery atherosclerosis (LAA), small vessel occlusion (SVO)), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), transient ischemic attack (TIA) and control subjects were compared (n = 205). Plasma LPS, LTA, CRP, and LBP levels were quantified by ELISA. LPS and CRP levels were elevated in ischemic strokes (CE, LAA, SVO) and ICH compared to controls. LBP levels were elevated in ischemic strokes (CE, LAA) and ICH. LTA levels were increased in SVO stroke compared to TIA but not controls. LPS levels correlated with CRP and LBP levels in stroke and TIA. LPS, LBP and CRP levels positively correlated with the NIHSS and WBC count but negatively correlated with total cholesterol. Plasma LPS and LBP associate with major causes of ischemic stroke and with ICH, whereas LPS/LBP do not associate with TIAs. LTA only associated with SVO stroke. LPS positively correlated with CRP, LBP, and WBC but negatively correlated with cholesterol. Higher LPS levels were associated with worse stroke outcomes.

Highlights

We aimed to determine if plasma levels of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) are associated with different causes of stroke and correlate with C-reactive protein (CRP), LPSbinding protein (LBP), and the NIH stroke scale (NIHSS)
We explored whether LPS (Lipopolysaccharide) or LTA (Lipoteichoic acid) levels are elevated in different causes of stroke and correlated with CRP levels since TLR4 is the receptor for Gram-negative bacterial LPS and TLR2 is the receptor for Gram-positive bacterial LTA, respectively
We hypothesize that levels of LPS and LTA, the inflammatory molecules from Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively, might change in some types of stroke and the LPS and LTA levels might correlate with LBP or CRP levels since LBP and CRP are acute phase proteins whose plasma concentrations change in response to inflammation

Summary

Introduction

We aimed to determine if plasma levels of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and lipoteichoic acid (LTA) are associated with different causes of stroke and correlate with C-reactive protein (CRP), LPSbinding protein (LBP), and the NIH stroke scale (NIHSS). We explored whether LPS (Lipopolysaccharide) or LTA (Lipoteichoic acid) levels are elevated in different causes of stroke and correlated with CRP levels since TLR4 is the receptor for Gram-negative bacterial LPS and TLR2 is the receptor for Gram-positive bacterial LTA, respectively. This study assessed plasma levels of LPS, LBP, LTA, and CRP in patients with different causes of ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) compared to controls. We hypothesize that levels of LPS and LTA, the inflammatory molecules from Gram-negative bacteria and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively, might change in some types of stroke and the LPS and LTA levels might correlate with LBP or CRP levels since LBP and CRP are acute phase proteins whose plasma concentrations change in response to inflammation

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion