Serum adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein associated with ischemic stroke and early death

Adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (A-FABP) is an adipokine shown to have adverse metabolic and proinflammatory effects, and contributes to atherosclerosis in mice. However, its role in cardiovascular diseases in humans remains to be established. In this case-control study, we investigated the association of serum A-FABP with ischemic stroke, and examined its association with early mortality.

Serum A-FABP was measured, using ELISA, in 306 subjects with acute ischemic stroke and 306 age-, sex-, and body mass index-matched controls. All controls were free of cardiovascular diseases. Serum A-FABP was also measured in another 60 ischemic stroke subjects who died within 3 months of acute stroke.

Serum A-FABP was higher in subjects with ischemic stroke as compared to controls (19.6 ng/mL [14.3-28.4 ng/mL] vs 15.2 ng/mL [10.6-23.6 ng/mL] in men and 32.4 ng/mL [24.5-45.7 ng/mL] vs 22.0 ng/mL [14.3-34.0 ng/mL] in women, stroke vs control, p<0.001). On logistic regression analyses with the model including hypertension, diabetes, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride, lipid-lowering treatment, smoking, and A-FABP, serum A-FABP was independently associated with stroke (odds ratio 2.10, 95% confidence interval 1.50-2.94, p<0.001), and the associations of A-FABP with ischemic stroke were additive to conventional risk factors, as demonstrated on likelihood ratio tests (p<0.001). Furthermore, high serum A-FABP was associated with increased 3-month mortality in ischemic stroke subjects (odds ratio 2.65, 95% confidence interval 1.18-5.96, p=0.018), independent of age and NIH Stroke Scale score.

Serum A-FABP was significantly associated with ischemic stroke in our case-control study, and may serve as a useful prognostic indicator for early mortality.