Table 1. Characteristics of the study participants.
| Stroke patients n = 41 |
Controls n = 40 |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male sex | 31 [76] | 24 [60] | 0.13 |
| Age, years | 65.4 ± 14.1 | 67.4 ± 8.9 | 0.77 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 23.5 (21.5–26.0) | 23.4 (21.6–26.0) | 0.58 |
| Current smoker | 13 [32] | 6 [15] | 0.08 |
| Hypertension | 23 [56] | 13 [33] | 0.03 |
| Type 2 diabetes | 21 [50] | 6 [15] | <0.001 |
| Dyslipidemia | 22 [54] | 18 [45] | 0.44 |
| Previous ischemic stroke | 2 [5] | 0 [0] | 0.16 |
| Previous CAD | 2 [5] | 0 [0] | 0.16 |
| Medications | |||
| Aspirin | 2 [5] | 4 [10] | 0.38 |
| Statin | 7 [17] | 10 [25] | 0.38 |
| ARB | 8 [20] | 7 [15] | 0.82 |
| PPI | 3 [7] | 6 [15] | 0.27 |
| HbA1c (%) | 6.4 (5.6–7.9) | 5.7 (5.4–6.2) | 0.008 |
| HDL cholesterol (mg/dl) | 52.1 ± 12.4 | 54.5 ± 13.6 | 0.42 |
| LDL cholesterol (mg/dl) | 133.2 ± 39.4 | 109.7 ± 25.8 | 0.003 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dl) | 127.0 (85.0–199.0) | 133.0 (85.5–192.8) | 0.79 |
| WBC (/μl) | 7107 ± 2449 | 5945 ± 1511 | 0.02 |
| hsCRP (mg/dl) | 0.11 (0.04–0.25) | 0.06 (0.01–0.09) | 0.01 |
| IL-6 (pg/ml) | 2.5 (1.7–3.4) | 1.6 (1.3–2.5) | <0.001 |
| TNF-α (pg/ml) | 1.0 (0.9–1.5) | 1.1 (0.8–1.4) | 0.54 |
| LBP (μg/ml) | 9.0 (6.7–11.9) | 8.2 (6.7–10.4) | 0.27 |
ARB, angiotensin-receptor blockers; BMI, body mass index; CAD, coronary artery disease; HbA1c, glycated hemoglobin A1c; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; hsCRP, high sensitivity C-reactive protein; IL, interleukin; LBP, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; PPI, proton pump inhibitor; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; WBC, white blood cell count. Continuous variables are presented as means ± standard deviations or as medians (interquartile range). Categorical variables are presented as absolute numbers [%].