Soluble ST2 and risk of cognitive impairment after acute ischemic stroke: a prospective observational study

BACKGROUND: Soluble suppression of tumorigenesis-2 (sST2) was reported to be associated with cognitive performance and risk of incident stroke. However, the impact of sST2 on cognitive function after ischemic stroke is unclear. We aimed to assess the association of sST2 and cognitive impairment at 3 months in acute ischemic stroke patients. METHODS: Baseline plasma sST2 levels were measured in 619 ischemic stroke patients (mean age: 60.0 ± 10.5 years) from 7 participating hospitals of the China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke. Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) were used to assess cognitive status. Cognitive impairment was defined as a MoCA score < 23 or MMSE score < 27. The association between sST2 and cognitive impairment was evaluated by logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: 325 (52.5%) or 323 (52.2%) participants developed cognitive impairment according to MoCA or MMSE. After adjustment for age, sex, education, and other covariates, the odds ratio for the highest vs lowest quartile of sST2 was 2.38 (95% CI, 1.42–4.00) and 1.82 (95% CI 1.09–3.03) risk of cognitive impairment defined by MoCA and MMSE score, respectively. Incorporation sST2 into a model containing conventional risk factors significantly improved reclassification. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated plasma sST2 levels were significantly associated with post-stroke cognitive impairment. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-021-02288-6.