HIF-1 and DEC-1 levels in acute ischaemic stroke patients: Could DEC-1 be a new biomarker in stroke?

Background/objectives: Although the underlying cause of ischemic stroke is vascular occlusion, the post-stroke pathophysiology remains unclear. Therefore, numerous biomarkers have been investigated for both diagnostic and prognostic purposes. In our study, the diagnostic value of the parameters NLR, PLR, RDW-CV, RDW-SD, HIF-1, and DEC-1 was comprehensively evaluated. Methods: NLR, Blood samples from patients with ischemic stroke and healthy controls were analyzed for NLR, PLR, RDW-CV, RDW-SD, HIF-1, and DEC-1 levels. Demographic and clinical characteristics of both patient and control groups were recorded. The relationship between HIF-DEC measurements and laboratory parameters was subsequently assessed. For statistical analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparisons between groups, and the Chi-Square test was applied for categorical variables. Results: RDW-SD values were found to be higher in patients diagnosed with cerebrovascular accident (CVA) while DEC levels were lower in the stroke group. Although no significant correlation was observed between HIF levels and other parameters in either the CVA or control groups, there was a weak inverse correlation found between DEC and NLR (r: 0.258), and between DEC and RDW-CV (r: 0.268), and a weak linear correlation between DEC and RDW (r:0.319) in the whole group. No significant correlations were found between DEC and other measurements within either the control or CVA groups individually. Conclusions: Our study may indicate that pathways increasing the levels of DEC-1, which acts on the PI3K/Akt pathway, could lead the development of new therapeutic strategies for ischemic stroke.