Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the development of ischemic stroke disease and the serum zinc level.
Materials and Methods: A total of 22 ischemic stroke patients and 38 healthy controls were included in the study. Routine blood samples of both groups were centrifuged at 5000 rpm for 5 minutes and serum samples were separated from the blood. Distilled water was added to the serum samples to make a total volume of 4 mL. Vortexing was used to homogenize the total mixture and standard solutions were used to detect zinc with an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. A concen-tration calibration graph was created to illustrate the results.
Results: The serum zinc level was significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (p<0.05). No statisti-cally significant relationship was determined between the serum zinc level and parameters associated with ischemic stroke risk factors and patient complications (p>0.05). However, a strong positive significant correlation was detected between hemoglobin and hematocrit parameters (r=0.936; p<0.001), a moderately positive significant correlation between C-reac-tive protein and chlorine parameters (r=0.445; p=0.038), a moderately positive significant correlation between sodium and chlorine parameters (r=0.522; p=0.013), and a moderately positive significant correlation between ischemic stroke duration and potassium parameters (r=0.483; p=0.023).
Conclusion: The significant increase in the serum zinc level of ischemic stroke patients and the significant positive cor-relations in parameters associated with ischemic stroke risk factors and complications may indicate an effect on neuronal metabolism that contributes to the development of ischemic stroke.