The Relationship Between Inflammatory Markers and Post Stroke Cognitive

Objective: To determine whether there is a relationship between inflammatorymarkers (serumC-reactive protein (CRP) and cyto-kines) and post stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI).Methods: Thiswas a cross-sectional observational study. Patientswere recruited from 4 sources: (1) the acute stroke unit of a general hospital, (2) an outpatient stroke prevention clinic, (3) a stroke rehabilitation unit in a specialized geriatric hospital, or (4) a stroke rehabilitation unit of a rehabilitation hospital. Patients meeting National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke (NINCDS) and World Health Organization Multinational Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease (WHO-MONICA) project criteria for stroke were invited to participate in this studywithin the first 5 to31dayspost stroke. Patientswith subarachnoidor intracranial hemorrhage, decreased level of consciousness, severe aphasia or dysarthria, or a significant acute medical, neurological, or psychiatric illness were excluded. Clinical assessments included the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) for cognition, the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) for stroke severity, and the Center for Epidemiological StudiesDepression Scale (CES-D) for depressive symptoms. Enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure serum concentrations of CRP, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and interferon g (IFN-g). Results: A total of 48 patients with ischemic stroke (age [mean+ SD] 71.6+ 13.2 years, 54.2%male, MMSE 26.4+ 3.8, NIHSS 6.8+ 4.0) were recruited within their first month post stroke. Backward stepwise elimination linear regression showed that higher concentrations of serumCRP (bCRP0.46, pCRP 0.002) predicted lower post stroke global cognition ([MMSE], F1,44 11.31, P .002), with age (