Background:
Compositions of serum fatty acids (s-FAs), such as palmitic acid (PA), oleic acid (OlA), linoleic acid (LiA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and their correlation with serum lipids (s-LPs), such as total cholesterol (T-CHO) and triglycerides (TG), have been reported in healthy young or middle subjects. However, little is known about s-FAs features in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients.
Hypothesis:
Serum FAs features in AIS elderly patients are different from those in healthy young subjects and concentrations of s-FAs provide different correlation with s-LPs from compositions.
Methods:
We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients aged 50 years or older who were admitted to our institution between August 2016 and July 2019 within 24 hours of first AIS onset. We evaluated concentrations and compositions of s-FAs and their association with s-LPs, age and ischemic stroke subtype.
Results:
Three hundred sixty-six patients met our inclusive criteria. Their average age was 74.7 years, median T-CHO and TG were 203.5 and 102 mg/dl, respectively and median concentrations of PA, OlA, LiA and DHA were 642.5, 566.0, 723.0 and 129.8 μg/ml, respectively, and their median or mean compositions were 23.6, 20.9, 26.5 and 4.7 %, respectively. Concentrations of s-FAs had positive correlation with s-LPs. Concentrations of s-LPs and most of s-FAs had negative correlation with age. In stroke subtype of large-artery atherosclerosis or small-vessel occlusion (LAA_SVO) and in stroke subtype of cardioembolism or others (CE_O), mean age was 72.6 and 76.4 years (p<0.001), median TCHO was 214 and 194 mg/dl (p<0.0001), median TG was 113 and 95 mg/dl (p<0.05), median PA was 678.8 and 611.2 μg/ml (p<0.0001), median OlA was 613.8 and 532.4 μg/ml (p<0.001), median LiA was 767.2 and 696.1 μg/ml (p<0.001), and mean DHA was 131.4 and 127.9 μg/ml (ns). Compositions of PA, OlA, LiA and DHA had no correlation with T-CHO and compositions of PA and OlA had positive correlation with TG, whereas compositions of LiA and DHA had negative correlation with TG. Compositions of OlA had negative correlation with age, whereas DHA composition had positive correlation with age. There was little difference of compositions between stroke subtypes.
Conclusions:
In first AIS elderly patients, concentrations of most of s-FAs had positive correlation with s-LPs. In LAA_SVO, patients were younger and their concentrations of s-LPs and most of s-FAs were larger than in CE_O. On the other hand, correlation of s-FAs compositions with s-LPs was not constant and there was little difference of compositions between ischemic stroke subtypes.
Sex Differences in Stroke Subtypes, Severity, Risk Factors, and Outcomes among Elderly Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke
