Role of ischemia-modified albumin and total homocysteine in estimating symptomatic lacunar infarction in type 2 diabetic patients

ObjectiveTo investigate whether ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) is reliable for early diagnosing symptomatic lacunar infarction (SLI) in type 2 diabetics.Design and methodsNinety-seven consecutive diabetic patients, 47 with SLI, and 45 healthy controls were enrolled. Serum IMA and plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) were measured on an autoanalyzer and evaluated in distinguishing SLI.ResultsSerum IMA levels were 97.35 ± 5.25 U/L in the healthy control group, 103.26 ± 7.43 U/L in the non-SLI group, and 139.84 ± 20.00 U/L in the SLI group. Plasma tHcy levels were 8.08 ± 1.82 μmol/L, 11.31 ± 3.03 μmol/L, and 13.10 ± 3.67 μmol/L, respectively. The differences in IMA and tHcy levels were statistically significant for all groups (p < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses revealed the areas under curve were 0.866 for IMA and 0.352 for tHcy.ConclusionThis study indicates that IMA was significantly elevated in the acute phase of SLI and more sensitive than tHcy in distinguishing SLI.

► Type 2 diabetics with and without symptomatic lacunar infarction were enrolled.
► Ischemia-modified albumin and total homocysteine were evaluated in distinguishing symptomatic lacunar infarction.
► The modified albumin was more sensitive than total homocysteine as diagnostic biomarker.