Yi-Chinn Weng and Wen-Hai Chou
Recent evidence suggests that neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is acutely induced after
ischemic stroke. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) has been associated with hemorrhagic transformation possibly
by promoting the degradation of extracellular matrix of cerebral blood vessels. NGAL forms heterodimer with MMP-9
and stabilizes the enzymatic activities of MMP-9 by protecting it from degradation. In the present study, we
determined the concentrations of NGAL, MMP-9 and the heterodimeric complex in the sera of patients with ischemic
and hemorrhagic stroke as well as healthy subjects by Western blotting, affinity purification, and ELISA. Our results
show that the serum levels of NGAL, MMP-9, and NGAL-MMP-9 complex in hemorrhagic stroke patients were
significantly higher than the ischemic stroke and control subjects. The data suggest a potential usage of NGAL,
MMP-9 and the heterodimeric complex as biomarkers to detect hemorrhagic stroke and distinguish it from ischemic
stroke