Tag Archives: ischemic stroke
Plasma level of von Willebrand factor in patients in the early stages of recovery after atherothrombotic stroke
O. Ya. Mykhalojko, V. A. Hryb, I. Ya. Mykhalojko
Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
*e-mail: myhalojko@i.ua
Received: 21 November 2025; Revised: 23 February 2026;
Accepted: 03 April 2026; Available on-line: April 2026
Atherothrombotic ischemic stroke remains a leading cause of disability and mortality. The search for biomarkers of its recurrence is a key task of modern vascular neurology. Von Willebrand factor (vWF), a multimeric glycoprotein that binds platelets to damaged vessel, is considered a marker of endothelial dysfunction and platelet activity. The aim of the study was to assess the level of von Willebrand factor in the blood plasma of patients in the early stages of recovery after atherothrombotic stroke. 200 patients aged 60.42 ± 7.40 with atherothrombotic ischemic stroke and 50 people from the control group were examined. The prospective observation was conducted for 12 months to record recurrent strokes. Neurological deficit was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and results were interpreted according to the generally accepted stroke grading. The level of vWF was determined by the light-transmission analysis on a laser aggregometer. The data obtained showed that the level of vWF in the early recovery period increased in parallel with the increase in disorder severity to 137.7, 155.7 and 169.7% in the groups with easy, average, and severe stroke, respectively, compared with the control indicator of 95.3%. In patients with the highest vWF level (>170%), the recurrent ischemic strokes were recorded in half of the cases. These results indicate the сlinical significance and prognostic value of von Willebrand factor, in particular, for identifying the patients at high risk of recurrent vascular accidents requiring enhanced secondary prevention measures.
Circulating levels of potential markers of ischemic stroke in patients with the different forms of atrial fibrillation and chronic heart failure
A. O. Tykhomyrov1*, O. Yu. Sirenko2, O. V. Kuryata2
1Department of Enzyme Chemistry and Biochemistry,
Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine;
2Department of Internal Medicine 2, Phthisiology,
Occupational Diseases and Clinical Immunology, Dnipro State Medical University, Dnipro, Ukraine;
*e-mail: artem_tykhomyrov@ukr.net
Received: 19 January 2024; Revised: 13 March 2024;
Accepted: 17 March 2024; Available on-line: 30 April 2024
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common abnormal type of heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia), which is considered the leading cause of stroke. There have been limited studies on the prognostic markers for atrial disease and AF-associated ischemic stroke, despite the high demand for this procedure in daily clinical practice to monitor disease course and assess risk of stroke in patients with AF and chronic heart failure (CHF). Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the levels of serum biomarkers related to ischemic stroke in CHF patients with the different forms of AF. Forty-six patients with various types of AF (paroxysmal, persistent and permanent) with or without ischemic stroke were enrolled in the study, 36 clinically healthy donors served as a control. The levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiostatins (AS) were evaluated by western blot analysis in the serum. The levels of active matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) were analysed by gelatin zymography. Elevated levels of iNOS were shown in patients with all AF forms as compared with control, but iNOS levels in post-ischemic patients were significantly higher than that in paroxysmal AF individuals. However, the levels of VEGF and AS did not differ from the baseline value in patients with paroxysmal AF, while dramatic increase of their contents was shown in post-stroke patients with persistent and permanent types of AF. Elevated active MMP-9 levels were shown to be associated with the diagnosis of all AF forms, regardless of the occurrence of stroke. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that tested proteins can be considered as valuable biomarkers of AF forms transformation and potentially useful for ischemic stroke risk stratification in patients with AF and CHF. Observed changes in regulatory protein levels may expand our understanding of pathological roles of endothelial function dysregulation, disrupted angiogenesis balance and abnormal tissue remodeling in AF and associated ischemic events.
Citicoline affects serum angiostatin and neurospecific protein levels in patients with atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke
A. A. Tykhomyrov1, Yu. S. Kushnir2, V. S. Nedzvetsky3,
T. V. Grinenko1, O. V. Kuryata2
1Palladin Institute of Biochemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Kyiv;
2State Establishment “Dnipropetrovsk Medical Academy of Health Ministry of Ukraine”, Dnipro;
3Bingöl University, Bingöl, Turkey;
e-mail: artem_tykhomyrov@ukr.net
Received: 22 May 2019; Accepted: 13 August 2019
Ischemic stroke is considered as one of the most frequent and severe complications of atrial fibrillation. The present study was undertaken to examine whether post-insult treatment with cytidine diphosphate-choline (CDP-choline, or citicoline) affects serum levels of the angiogenesis inhibitor angiostatin and neurospecific proteins as markers of brain damage in patients with cerebral ischemia associated with atrial fibrillation. Thirty-three patients with a diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke received citicoline sodium by intravenous infusions (1,000 mg daily for 14 days) in addition to the standard treatment (basic group). Twenty-five patients with the same pathologies, who received only standard therapy, were enrolled in the study as a control group. Serum content of angiostatin and neurospecific proteins, namely neurofilament heavy subunit (NF-H) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), was measured by immunoblotting at the basal level and after the treatment. Citicoline treatment caused significant decreases in serum levels of angiostatin (by 40% vs. basal level, P < 0.05), GFAP (by 61%, P < 0.01), and the NF-H subunit (by 19%, P < 0.05) and had no effect on the serum albumin content. In contrast, there were no statistically significant differences between baseline levels of the studied protein markers and their content after the treatment period in the control group. These findings indicate for the first time that CDP-choline protects both astrocytes and neurons and improves angiogenic capacity through down-regulation of angiostatin in post-ischemic patients with atrial fibrillation after acute ischemic stroke. Further studies are needed to test associations between serum levels of these biomarkers, clinical outcomes, and treatment efficacy of stroke.