A simple blood test that gauges six distinct inflammatory indicators has been devised by a group of US medical researchers to determine the risk of stroke.
Just as blood cholesterol tests indicate the risk of heart attacks, tests for the markers linked to the inflammatory protein called interleukin (IL)-18 may be used as a tool for stroke risk assessment, according to the UCLA study published in the journal Stroke.
The study published in the journal Stroke:
According to the ScienceDaily report, the research, which has been published in the journal Stroke, discovered that blood levels of a network of inflammatory molecules could be used to create a risk score for cerebral small vessel disease, which is a common cause of stroke and a factor in cognitive decline that is particularly prevalent in the elderly.
How the blood test will detect stroke risk?
Currently, the only method available to assess a person's risk for stroke is to combine imaging tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, with family history and other risk factors, like high blood pressure. However, the majority of neurologists identify a patient as at risk only after a stroke or other cerebral event that may indicate a stroke risk has occurred.
A neurologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, Jason Hinman, who led the study on the blood test for stroke said, “In the same way we use cholesterol tests to evaluate future risk for a heart attack, we don’t have such a thing to estimate future risk of stroke." He also added, “We could do this with something as simple as a blood test."
Hinman and his teammates examined a group of inflammatory chemicals linked to IL-18, a protein that is essential in the battle against inflammation, auto-immune diseases, and infections. Five of the six molecules linked to IL-18 were examined in blood samples from thousands of US people who participated in an independent study on long-term health consequences, and their medical histories were recorded.
Based on the quantities of the inflammatory chemicals connected to IL-18 in the blood samples, they have developed a mathematical model using the data to produce a risk score. Those with risk scores in the top 25 per cent of 2,201 participants in the study had an 84 per cent likelihood of having a stroke. Additionally, the study, which was released on Monday in the medical journal Stroke, found that high-risk scores raised the chance of stroke by 51 per cent.
The researchers found that in the sample population, they examined, the concentrations of the inflammatory biomarkers centered around IL-18 are linked to an elevated risk of stroke and cognitive impairment.
However, Hinman said it is still not clear whether a risk score based on the IL-18 markers can be reduced but the goal is to prevent a stroke before it happens.
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