Low triiodothyronine: A new facet of inflammation in acute ischemic stroke.
BACKGROUND
Patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) frequently experience low free triiodothyronine (fT3) concentrations. Inflammation is recognized as a key contributor to the pathophysiology of stroke. Previous studies, however, did not simultaneously evaluate fT3 and inflammation biomarkers in AIS patients.


METHODS
Markers of inflammation, including serum concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP) and albumin, and fT3 were assessed retrospectively in 117 patients. Stroke severity was measured on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Regression analyses were performed to adjust for confounders.


RESULTS
Serum fT3 concentrations were significantly lower in moderate AIS patients than those in mild AIS patients (P<0.001). fT3 concentration also positively correlated with serum albumin concentration (r=0.358, P<0.001) and negatively correlated with log10CRP concentration (r=-0.341, P<0.001), NIHSS score (r=-0.384, P<0.001). Multiple regression analysis showed that CRP, albumin concentrations and NIHSS score were independently correlated with fT3 concentration. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that fT3 concentration was an independent factor correlated with NIHSS score, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.712 (95% CI, 0.618-0.805).


CONCLUSIONS
Low fT3 concentrations may be involved in the pathogenic pathway linking inflammation to stroke severity in AIS patients.
Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, China.
Lili
L
Ma
Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, China; Department of Neurology, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, 3002 Sungang West Road, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518037, China.
Dongliang
D
Zhu
Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, China.
Ying
Y
Jiang
Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, China.
Yingying
Y
Liu
Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, China.
Xiaomeng
X
Ma
Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, China.
Mei
M
Liu
Department of Neurology, The Third Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, 600 Tianhe Road, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510630, China. Electronic address: xiaohongchenzssy@aliyun.com.
Xiaohong
X
Chen
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020521:Stroke / Q000097:blood*; D014284:Triiodothyronine / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
D014284:Triiodothyronine
Albumin; C-reactive protein; Inflammation; Stroke; fT3