The aim of our study was to evaluate whether stroke etiology (thrombotic versus embolic) can influence serum level of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and D-dimer (DD). The value of CRP level was significantly lower in group 2 than in group 1 (3.65 mg/L versus 4.76 mg/L, P=0.043).
Similar differences were observed also in IL-8 level (8.1 ng/L versus 12.53 ng/L, P=0.039). IL-6 and DD levels were not significantly influenced.
Our results suggest that CRP and IL-8 contribute to the pathogenesis of acute ischemic stroke of thrombotic versus embolic etiology. Neverthless, further studies with control groups are needed to support this hypothesis.