Relationship between serum levels of enzyme chitin 40 and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with acute cerebral infarction

Objective To investigate the relationship between serum levels of enzyme chitin 40(YKL-40) and carotid atherosclerosis in patients with acute cerebral infarction(ACI).Methods The serum levels of YKL-40 in 78 ACI patients(ACI group) and 34 healthy controls(normal control group,NC group) were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The ACI patients were examined by carotid ultrasonography to discover the thickness of carotid artery intima-media(IMT) and the characteristic of atherosclerosis plaque.Results The serum level of YKL-40 in ACI group was significantly higher than that in NC group(P0.001).There were 74 ACI patients(94.9%) with increased carotid artery IMT.In which,the serum level of YKL-40 in stenosis group(carotid artery IMT1.4 mm) was significantly higher than that in plaque group(IMT 1.2-1.4 mm) and intima thickened group(IMT 1.0-1.1 mm)(all P0.05);while there was no significant difference of the serum level of YKL-40 between plaque group and intima thickened group.There were 64 ACI patients(82.1%) with carotid plaques(including unstable plaques 40 cases and stable plaques 24 cases) and 12 ACI patients(15.4%) with carotid intima rough.In which,the serum level of YKL-40 in unstable plaque group was significantly higher than that in stable plaque group and intima rough group(all P0.01);while there was no significant difference of the serum level of YKL-40 between stable plaque group and intima rough group.Conclusion The serum level of YKL-40 in ACI patients is increased and also closely related to the carotid atherosclerosis.