Relationship between serum Copeptin level and severity outcome in patients with ischemic stroke: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Copeptin is a c-terminal part of a neuroendocrine marker provasopressin. Literature survey suggests that plasma Copeptin level is associated with functional outcome and mortality in patients with acute stroke. It has emerged as a novel prognostic biomarker for predicting stroke outcome. The aim of the study was to quantitatively assess the prognostic significance of effect of Copeptin levels on patient survival using a meta-analysis approach. A literature survey was performed for published studies in stroke for the respective biomarker till 2017 using databases like Pubmed, Medline, Google scholar and OVID. The keyword search used was: “COPEPTIN” AND “PROGNOSIS” OR “OUTCOME” OR “MORTALITY” AND “BRAIN STROKE” OR “CEREBRAL INFARCTION”. Random effect model was used since heterogeneity was more than 50% otherwise fixed effect model could be used. A total of 13 studies from 2009 to March 2019 involving 2780 subjects were included in the present meta-analysis. The mean age of the subjects was 61.7 years. The pooled results suggested that the plasma Copeptin level was significantly higher in the subjects who died compared to those who survived brain stroke at the end of the last follow-up. Standardized mean difference (SMD 1.55; 95% CI, 1.11-1.99), p-value<0.0001 Finding of the meta-analysis is suggestive of high plasma Copeptin level being a contributing factor for predicting mortality rate in patients with acute stroke. Further prospective studies are required to validate the findings observed in this meta-analysis.