Correlation between pulse wave velocity and serum sLOX-1 in patients with acute cerebral infarction

To investigate the relationship between pulse wave velocity (PWV) and serum lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (sLOX-1) level in patients with acute cerebral infarction, a total of 58 patients with acute cerebral infarction occurring within 72 h and 30 subjects (control) without stroke receiving physical examination were recruited into the present study. The right carotid-femoral PWV (cfPWV) was measured and serum sLOX-1 level was determined by ELISA. The PWV and serum sLOX-1 level in patients with acute cerebral infarction were significantly higher than those in the control group (PWV: 11.69 ± 2.56 m/s Vs. 9.60 ± 1.92 m/s, P < 0.05; sLOX-1: 42.92 ± 6.88 mg/L Vs. 36.03 ± 4.70 mg/L, P < 0.01). No marked difference was observed in the PWV and serum sLOX-1 level among patients with different infarction sizes. Correlation analysis revealed PWV was positively correlated with the serum sLOX-1 level (r = 0.579, P < 0.01). PWV has favorable consistence with sLOX-1 used as a non-invasive method to evaluate the degree of atherosclerosis in patients with acute cerebral infarction. PWV and sLOX-1 may have important clinical implications in the prevention and treatment of cerebral infarction.