Vitamin d status in acute ischemic stroke: Relation to initial severity and short-term outcome

Abstract

Background: A growing body of evidence indicated that vitamin D has a potential protective role against neurovascular injury. Low serum vitamin D has been associated with increased risk for incident stroke and stroke fatality. Objective: This study aimed to investigate vitamin D status among acute ischemic stroke patients and examine its relation to initial severity and short-term outcome. Subjects and methods: Forty-eight acute ischemic stroke patients and 48 matched healthy control subjects participated in the study. Subjects were divided according to vitamin D level into deficient, insufficient, and sufficient groups. National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) on admission and after 72 h and modified Rankin Scale (mRS) on discharge and after 3 months were performed for all patients. Results: Stroke patients had significantly lower serum vitamin D levels compared to healthy subjects. Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency were significantly prevalent among patients compared to healthy controls. Significant negative correlation was detected between serum vitamin D and NIHSS scores on admission and after 72 h. Significant negative correlation was also detected between serum vitamin D and mRS scores on discharge and after 3 months. An increased risk of stroke of 2.88 times was found in patients with insufficient vitamin D in comparison to sufficient subgroup, and this likelihood increases to be 13.78 times in the deficient compared to sufficient subgroups. Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of acute ischemic stroke and is associated with increased initial stroke severity and worse short-term outcome.