In addition to traditional risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure, age, and race, a particular enzyme and protein found in the blood may help identify middle-aged men and women at increased risk for ischemic stroke.

The study is published in the study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

An estimated 700,000 strokes occur each year in the United States, making stroke the third leading cause of death and the leading cause of neurologic disability.
Almost a third of strokes occur in people under the age of 65.

Christie M. Ballantyne, of Baylor College of Medicine and Methodist DeBakey Heart Center, Houston, Texas, and colleagues examined levels of two inflammatory markers -- C-reactive protein ( CRP ) and the enzyme lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 ( Lp-PLA2 ) -- to determine if they are associated with increased risk for incident ischemic stroke.

The researchers conducted a prospective case-cohort study of 12,762 apparently healthy middle-aged men and women in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities ( ARIC ) study, who were observed for about six years. The final sample size for the analysis was 960, including 194 ischemic stroke cases and 766 non-cases.

The authors report that levels of Lp-PLA2 and CRP were higher in middle-aged Americans who subsequently had an ischemic stroke than in those who did not.

" Mean Lp-PLA2 and CRP levels adjusted for sex, race, and age were higher in the 194 stroke cases than the 766 non-cases, whereas low-density lipoprotein cholesterol ( LDL-C ) level was not significantly different," the authors write.

" Individuals with high levels of both CRP and Lp-PLA2 were at the highest risk after adjusting for traditional risk factors compared with individuals with low levels of both, whereas others were at intermediate risk," they continue.

" Lp-PLA2 and CRP levels may be complementary to traditional risk factors to identify middle-aged individuals at increased risk for stroke," the authors conclude. " Future studies should determine whether selective inhibition of Lp-PLA2 or reduction and/or inhibition of CRP reduces ischemic stroke and whether statins and/or fibrates are more effective for stroke prevention in patients with elevated levels of Lp-PLA2."

Source: American Medical Association, 2005


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