The diagnostic and prognostic value of serum CXCL12 levels in patients with ischemic stroke

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential diagnostic and prognostic role of CXC chemokine ligand-12 (CXCL12) in Chinese patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). All consecutive patients with first-ever AIS from January 2014 to August 2014 were recruited to participate in the study. CXCL12 and NIH Stroke Scale were measured at the time of admission. Short-term functional outcome was measured by modified Rankin scale 3 months after admission. Multivariate analyses were performed using logistic regression models. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the accuracy of serum CXCL12 in diagnosing stroke and prognosing functional outcome. From 375 screened patients, a total of 288 patients with first-ever AIS were included in this study. Based on the ROC curve, the optimal cutoff value of serum CXCL12 levels as an indicator for auxiliary diagnosis of AIS was projected to be 3.5 ng/mL, which yielded a sensitivity of 88.1 % and a specificity of 73.5 %, with the area under the curve at 0.907 (95 % CI 0.882–0.932). In multivariate analysis, there was an increased risk of unfavorable outcome associated with serum CXCL12 levels ≥7.6 ng/mL (OR 4.356, 95 % CI 2.993–7.132, P < 0.0001) after adjusting for possible confounders. Our study demonstrated that elevated serum CXCL12 level at admission was an independent diagnostic and prognostic marker in patients with AIS.