Objective: To characterize relation between changes in serum soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM) and infarction volume in patients with acute cerebral infarction (ACI).
Methods: The levels of serum sICAM-1 of 165 patients with ACI were measured with enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and compared the results with that of 58 patients suffering from cerebral hemorrhage and 87 normal controls.
Results: sICAM-1 in patients with ACI 24 hours after the onset [(4.73+/-0.26) mg/L] was higher than that in patients with cerebral hemorrhage [(2.81+/-0.18) mg/L] and normal controls [(2.64+/-0.25) mg/L, both P<0.01]. It was still higher than that in patients with cerebral hemorrhage and normal controls at the 14 days after the onset (both P<0.01). The levels of serum sICAM-1 were significantly higher in the patients with large cerebral infarction group [infarction volume was >10 cm(3), (5.14+/-0.34) mg/L] than in patients with medium [infarction volume was 4-10 cm(3), (4.47+/-0.20) mg/L] and small cerebral infarction groups [infarction volume was <4 cm(3), (4.12+/-0.28) mg/L, both P<0.01]. The levels of sICAM-1 were higher in patients complicated with infection compared with those without in 14 days (P<0.05 or P<0.01).
Conclusion: Serum sICAM-1 was closely related to cerebral infarction volume in patients with ACI.