Background. Stroke is the third leading causes of death and can cause severe disability. Ischemic stroke has a higher prevalence compared to hemorrhage stroke. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) is a transcription factor which maintains cellular homeostasis in response to hypoxia. It can trigger apoptosis while stimulating angiogenesis process and decrease neurological deficit after an ischemic stroke. However, this protein complex has not been widely investigated. Objective. Here, we

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... the potential of HIF-1α as a marker for neuroplasticity process after ischemic stroke. Methods. Serum HIF-1α were measured in acute ischemic stroke patients. National Institute of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) were assessed on the admission and discharge day (between days 7 and 14). To classify the ischemic stroke, we used (Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment) TOAST criteria. Statistical significances were calculated with Spearman rank test. Results. A total of 58 patients, 31 with large artery atherosclerosis LVD and 27 with small vessel disease (SVD) were included in this study. HIF-1α level in LVD group was (mean ± SD) 0.5225 ± 0.2459 mg/L and in SVD group was 0.3815 ± 0.121 mg/L. HIF-1α was higher (p = 0.004) in LVD group than in SVD group. The initial NIHSS score in LVD group was (mean ± SD) 15.46 ± 2.61 and discharge NIHSS score was 13.31 ± 3.449. Initial NIHSS score in SVD group was 6.07 ± 1.82 and the discharge NIHSS was 5.703 ± 1.7055. In LVD group, HIF-1α was correlated significantly with initial NIHSS (p = 0.0000) and discharge NIHSS (p = 0.0000, r = 0.93). This was also the case for SVD. We found a significant correlation between the level of HIF-1α with initial NIHSS (p = 0.0000) and discharge NIHSS (p = 0.0383) in SVD group (r = 0.94). Conclusion. HIF-1α has a strong correlation with NIHSS and it may be used as the predictor of acute ischemic stroke outcome.