%0 Journal Article %T Elevated Plasma Levels but Decreased Platelet-Associated Expression of LIGHT in Patients with Acute Atherothrombotic Stroke %A Guangzhi Liu %A Yang He %A Tingting Yang %A Hong Jiang %A Yajuan Xiang %A Qi Zhang %A Xiangjun He %A Peter Hjelmstrom %A Xuguang Gao %J World Journal of Neuroscience %P 385-393 %@ 2162-2019 %D 2014 %I Scientific Research Publishing %R 10.4236/wjns.2014.44042 %X Background: As a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily (TNFSF), LIGHT (TNFSF14) is expressed by a variety of immune cells and exists in membrane-bound and soluble forms. Recently, LIGHT was found to be associated with platelets and released upon activation. Activation of endothelia cells by recombinant LIGHT protein results in pro-inflammatory and pro-thrombotic changes. Several studies have reported increased plasma levels of LIGHT in patients with stroke and cardiovascular diseases. However, the form-associated roles of LIGHT in ischemic atherosclerotic stroke remain unclear. Mater?als and Methods: In this study, the platelet LIGHT expression and soluble LIGHT protein were analyzed by flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in peripheral blood of patients with acute ischemic atherosclerotic stroke, asymptomatic carotid stenosis (ACS) and normal controls. RESULTS: During the initial 24 h after onset, the stroke patients had decreased LIGHT expression on their platelets (5.9% ¡À 4.9%) and increased plasma LIGHT levels (36.1 ¡À 21.0 pg/ml) as compared with normal controls (9.5% ¡À 3.0%, p < 0.05; 20.4 ¡À 13.4 pg/ml, p < 0.05). Moreover, the platelet LIGHT expression correlated with total plaque area in the stroke patients (r = 0.4572, p = 0.0247). Conclus?ons: The dysregulated LIGHT expression reflects a persistent chronic inflammatory %K LIGHT %K Ischemic Atherosclerotic Stroke %K Atherogenesis %K Peripheral Blood %U http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=48904