Associations of Aminotransferases with Adverse Outcomes after Acute Ischemic Stroke: Results from China National Stroke Registry
Abstract Background The relationship between aminotransferases and cardiovascular outcomes has been inconsistent in previous studies. We aimed to investigate the association of aminotransferases with clinical outcomes after acute ischemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Methods 17,178 AIS or TIA patients with serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels < 120 U/L were included from the China National Stroke Registry (CNSR) for current analysis. Composite endpoint is comprised of recurrent stroke and all-cause mortality. Poor functional outcome is defined as modified Rankin scale of 3-6. Multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the risks of one-year all-cause mortality, recurrent stroke, composite endpoint and poor functional outcome according to increasing sex-specific quintiles of ALT/ aspartate aminotransferase (AST) respectively. Results One-year incidences of all-cause mortality, recurrent stroke, composite endpoint and poor functional outcome were 11.9%, 6.0%, 13.7% and 28.2% respectively in patients with the lowest quintile of ALT, and 7.4%, 3.6%, 9.0% and 17.9% respectively in the highest quintile. Compared with the lowest ALT quintile, the adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence interval of the highest quintile were 0.55 (0.43-0.70) for all-cause mortality, 0.61 (0.45-0.83) for stroke recurrence, 0.62 (0.49-0.77) for composite endpoint, and 0.67 (0.56-0.80) for poor functional outcome. There was no significant interaction of ALT with age, sex, diabetes, dyslipidemia and alcohol consumption for all outcomes (p for interaction ≥ 0.10). Conclusions Low serum ALT may serve as an independent predictor for all-cause mortality, stroke recurrence, composite endpoint and poor functional outcome after stroke.