Investigation of UCH-L1 levels in ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage and metabolic disorder induced impaired consciousness

Abstract Objective We aimed to determine the levels of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase-L1 (UCH-L1) in patients admitted to the emergency department with impaired consciousness due to metabolic or neurological reasons. Materials – methods The study included 80 patients with ischemic stroke (IS), 40 patients with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), 80 patients with metabolic disorder induced impaired consciousness (MDIC) and 40 healthy controls. Results The levels of UCH-L1 [median (IQR)] were as follows: 5.59 ng/mL (3.90–9.37) in IS, 5.44 ng/ml (4.01–13.98) in ICH, 3.34 ng/ml (2.29–5.88) in MDIC and 3.94 ng/ml (3.31–7.95) in healthy volunteers. Significantly higher levels were detected in IS and ICH than in MDIC and healthy volunteers. In ROC curve analysis, we detected 63.75% sensitivity and 62.5% specificity (AUC = 0.626, p  Conclusion In this study, we detected significantly higher levels of UCH-L1 in patients with IS and ICH compared to patients with MDIC and healthy volunteers.