Affiliations: Department of Neurological Science, Marche Polytechnic
University, Italy | Institute of Biochemistry, Marche Polytechnic
University, Italy
Note: [] Corresponding author: Dr. Laura Nanetti, Faculty of Medicine,
Marche Polytechnic University, Via Tronto 10, Ancona, Italy. Tel.: +39 071 220
6058; Fax: +39 071 220 6058; E-mail: l_nanetti@hotmail.com
Abstract: Stroke is a heterogeneous syndrome caused by multiple disease
mechanisms, resulting in a disruption of cerebral blood flow with subsequent
tissue damage. It is well known that erythrocytes have a large amount of sialic
acid and could represent a model to investigate changes occurring in a
pathology like stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate a possible
relationship among erythrocyte membrane, plasma and sialic acid content. The
possible impact of the sialic acid content and the activity of sialidase on
stroke severity was also evaluated. The study population consisted of 54 patients with a first stroke
and of 53 age-and sex matched healthy volunteers. The total bound sialic acid was substantially decreased in patients.
There was a significant correlation between the sialidase activity values and
the severity of the neurological deficit defined by the National Institute of
Health Stroke Scale. This study shows that low sialic acid erythrocyte concentrations
with contemporary high sialic acid plasma levels and elevated sialidase
activity can be considered as markers of ischemic stroke. Further
investigations are needed to clarify the possible role of these biochemical
changes in producing and sustaining cerebral ischemic damage.
