Novel Metabolites as Potential Indicators of Ischemic Infarction Volume: a Pilot Study

Metabolomics may identify biomarkers for acute ischemic stroke (AIS). Previously, circulating metabolites were compared in AIS and healthy controls without accounting for stroke size. The goal of this study was to identify metabolites that associate with the volume of AIS. We prospectively analyzed 1554 serum metabolites in the acute (72 h) and chronic (3–6 months) stages of 60 ischemic stroke patients. We calculated infarct volume using diffusion-weighted images with MR segmentation software and associated the volume with stage-specific metabolites, acute-to-chronic stage changes, and multiple mixed regression in metabolite concentrations using multivariate regression analysis. We used the two-stage Benjamini and Hochberg (TSBH) procedure for multiple testing. Four unknown metabolites at the acute stage significantly associated with infarct volume: X24541, X24577, X24581, and X2482 (all p < 0.01). Nine metabolites at the chronic stage are significantly associated with infarct volume: indolpropinate, alpha ketoglutaramate, picolinate, X16087, X24637, X24576, X24577, X24582, X24581 (all p < 0.048). Infarct volume is also associated with significant changes in serum concentrations of twenty-seven metabolites, with p values from 0.01 to 1.48 × 10⁻⁷, and on five metabolites using mixed regression model. This prospective pilot study identified several metabolites associated with the volume of ischemic infarction. Confirmation of these findings on a larger dataset would help characterize putative pathways underlying the size of ischemic infarction and facilitate the identification of biomarkers or therapeutic targets.