Expression levels of Dickkopf-related protein 1 and sclerostin protein in serum of patients with cerebral thrombosis and their relationships with disease severity

Objective To explore the relationships of levels of Dickkopf-related protein 1(DKK-1) and sclerostin (SOST) in serum with disease severity in patients with cerebral thrombosis.

Methods A total of 110 patients with cerebral thrombosis were selected as cerebral thrombosis group, and they were divided into mild, moderate and severe groups according to their severity; in addition, 110 healthy subjects with matching general data were selected as control group.Serum DKK-1 and SOST levels were detected and their correlation was analyzed.Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the efficacy of DKK-1 and SOST in diagnosing severe cerebral thrombosis.

Results The levels of DKK-1 and SOST in the cerebral thrombosis group were significantly higher the control group (P < 0.05);the serum levels of DKK-1 and SOST in severe, moderate and mild groups showed an significantly increasing trend (P < 0.05).There was a positive correlation between serum DKK-1 and SOST level (r=0.705, P < 0.05);the serum DKK-1 and SOST levels were positively correlated with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score of patients with cerebral thrombosis (r=0.625, r=0.674, P < 0.05).The area under the curve (AUC) of DKK-1 and SOST in the diagnosis of severe cerebral thrombosis was 0.879(95%CI, 0.808 to 0.950) and 0.815(95%CI, 0.710 to 0.919), respectively; the AUC of DKK-1 combined with SOST was 0.911(95%CI, 0.849 to 0.973).

Conclusion The levels of serum DKK-1 and SOST in patients with cerebral thrombosis are high and closely related to the severity of the disease.DKK-1 combined with SOST has a high diagnostic efficiency for severe cerebral thrombosis.Monitoring the levels of DKK-1 and SOST is helpful to evaluate the severity of the patient′s disease.