Correlation between images of silent brain infarction, carotid atherosclerosis and white matter hyperintensity, and plasma levels of acrolein, IL-6 and CRP

Abstract

Objective We found previously that the measurement of plasma levels of protein-conjugated acrolein (PC-Acro) together with IL-6 and CRP can be used to identify silent brain infarction (SBI) with high sensitivity and specificity. The aim of this study was to clarify how three biochemical markers are correlated to SBI, carotid atherosclerosis (CA) and white matter hyperintensity (WMH). Methods The levels of PC-Acro, IL-6 and CRP in plasma were measured by ELISA. SBI and WMH were evaluated by MRI, and CA was evaluated by duplex carotid ultrasonography. Results A total of 790 apparently healthy volunteers were classified into 260 control, 214 SBI, 263 CA and 245 WMH subjects, which included 187 subjects with two or three pathologies. When the combined measurements of PC-Acro, IL-6 and CRP were evaluated together with age, using a receiver operating characteristic curve and artificial neural networks, the relative risk value (RRV), an indicator of tissue damage, was in the order SBI with CA (0.90) > SBI (0.80) > CA (0.76) > WMH with CA (0.65) > WMH (0.46) > control (0.14). RRV was also correlated with severity in each group of SBI, CA and WMH. Conclusion The RRV supports the idea that the degree of risk to develop a stroke is in the order SBI > CA > WMH.