Elevated remnant cholesterol is a risk factor for acute ischemic stroke.

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Neurology
• Clinical Chemistry

Background:

• Remnant cholesterol (RC) is implicated in atherosclerosis pathogenesis.
• The specific association between RC and acute ischemic stroke (AIS) remains incompletely understood.
• Identifying independent risk factors for AIS is crucial for prevention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether fasting blood remnant cholesterol (RC) levels represent an independent risk factor for acute ischemic stroke (AIS).
• To elucidate the nature of the relationship between RC and AIS risk.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 650 AIS patients and 598 healthy controls.
• Binary logistic regression to assess the association between RC and AIS.
• Restricted Cubic Splines (RCS) analysis to model the non-linear relationship between RC and AIS risk.

Main Results:

• Remnant cholesterol (RC) levels were significantly higher in AIS patients compared to controls.
• RC was confirmed as an independent risk factor for AIS, even after adjusting for covariates.
• A non-linear association was observed: AIS risk increased with RC up to 0.69 mol/L, then plateaued.
• In diabetic patients, AIS risk increased significantly with RC, especially above 1.15 mol/L.

Conclusions:

• Remnant cholesterol (RC) is a validated independent risk factor for acute ischemic stroke (AIS).
• The study reveals a distinct non-linear association between RC levels and AIS risk.
• Findings emphasize the importance of RC in AIS risk stratification, particularly for diabetic individuals.