Association between plasma adiponectin levels and severity of acute ischemic stroke

There is little documentation describing the correlation between plasma adiponectin and the severity of ischemic stroke in the Indian population. The present study was aimed to find the correlation between plasma adiponectin levels and severity of acute ischemic stroke using the National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and Modified Rankins Scale (MRS). The present prospective observational study was conducted on 109 patients of confirmed acute ischemic stroke aged ≥ 30 years presenting within 24 hours of new onset of neurodeficits. NIHSS and MRS were measured within 24 hours and 5 days after onset of symptoms respectively. Plasma adiponectin levels were measured. The primary objectives were to find the correlation of plasma adiponectin levels with severity of acute ischemic stroke using the NIHSS and neurological functional outcome using the MRS. The secondary objectives were to find an association of plasma adiponectin levels with serum lipid profile and comorbidities.There was a negative correlation between plasma adiponectin levels and NIHSS score (r = - 0.110, p-value = 0.253) and MRS (r = -0.041, p-value = 0.672) which was not statistically significant. The median plasma adiponectin levels were comparable between the groups of cases with co-morbidity and without co-morbidity. A significantly higher percentage of patients who had high triglyceride levels had normal plasma adiponectin levels. The distribution of other lipid parameters and hypertension did not differ significantly between the groups of cases with normal and abnormal plasma adiponectin levels. There was no correlation between plasma adiponectin levels and severity of acute ischemic stroke.