Alzheimer’s disease (AD) increases dramatically in patients with ischaemic stroke. Monomeric C-reactive protein (mCRP) appears in the ECM of ischaemic tissue after stroke, associating with microvasculature, neurons and AD-plaques, Aβ, also, being able to dissociate native-CRP into inflammatory, mCRP in vivo. Here, mCRP injected into the hippocampal region of mice was retained within the retrosplenial tract of the dorsal 3rd ventrical and surrounding major vessels. Mice developed behavioural/cognitive deficits within 1 month, concomitant with mCRP staining within abnormal looking neurons expressing p-tau and in beta-amyloid 1-42-plaque positive regions. mCRP co-localised with CD105 in microvessels suggesting angiogenesis. Phospho-arrays/Western blotting identified signalling activation in endothelial cells and neurons through p-IRS-1, p-Tau and p-ERK1/2-which was blocked following pre-incubation with mCRP-antibody. mCRP increased vascular monolayer permeability and gap junctions, increased NCAM expression and produced haemorrhagic angiogenesis in mouse matrigel implants. mCRP induced tau244–372 aggregation and assembly in vitro. IHC study of human AD/stroke patients revealed co-localization of mCRP with Aβ plaques, tau-like fibrils and IRS-1/P-Tau positive neurons and high mCRP-levels spreading from infarcted core regions matched reduced expression of Aβ/Tau. mCRP may be responsible for promoting dementia after ischaemia and mCRP clearance could inform therapeutic avenues to reduce the risk of future dementia.

Only very little is know about the neurovascular niche after cardioembolic stroke. Three processes implicated in neurorepair: angiogenesis, neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity, would be naturally produced in adult brains, but also could be stimulated through endogen neurorepair phenomena. Angiogenesis stimulation generates new vessels with the aim to increase collateral circulation. Neurogenesis is controlled by intrinsic genetic mechanisms and growth factors but also ambiental factors are important. The leading process of the migrating neural progenitor cells (NPCs) is closely associated with blood vessels, suggesting that this interaction provides directional guidance to the NPCs. These findings suggest that blood vessels play an important role as a scaffold for NPCs migration toward the damaged brain region. DNA microarray technology and blood genomic profiling in human stroke provided tools to investigate the expression of thousands of genes. Critical comparison of gene expression profiles after stroke in humans with those in animal models should lead to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of brain ischaemia. Probably the most important part of early recovery after stroke is limited capacity of penumbra/infarct neurones to recover. It became more clear in the last years, that penumbra is not just passively dying over time but it is also actively recovering. This initial plasticity in majority contributes towards later neurogenesis, angiogenesis and final recovery. Penumbra is a principal target in acute phase of stroke. Thus, the origin of newly formed vessels and the pathogenic role of neovascularization and neurogenesis are important unresolved issues in our understanding of the mechanisms after stroke. Biomaterials for promoting brain protection, repair and regeneration are new hot target. Recently developed biomaterials can enable and increase the target delivery of drugs or therapeutic proteins to the brain, allow cell or tissue transplants to be effectively delivered to the brain and help to rebuild damaged circuits. These new approaches are gaining clear importance because nanotechnology allows better control over material-cell interactions that induce specific developmental processes and cellular responses including differentiation, migration and outgrowth.

Rationale: Ischemic stroke (IS) is among the leading causes of adult disability. Part of the variability in functional outcome after stroke has been attributed to genetic factors but no locus has been consistently associated with stroke outcome. Objective: Our aim was to identify genetic loci influencing the recovery process using accurate phenotyping to produce the largest genome-wide association study (GWAS) in IS recovery to date. Methods and Results: A 12-cohort, two-phase (discovery-replication and joint) meta-analysis of GWAS included anterior-territory and previously independent IS cases. Functional outcome was recorded using 3-month modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Analyses were adjusted for confounders such as discharge NIHSS. A gene-based burden test was performed. The discovery phase (n=1,225) was followed by open (n=2,482) and stringent joint-analyses (n=1,791). Those cohorts with mRS recorded at timepoints other than 3-month or incomplete data on previous functional status were excluded in the stringent analyses. Novel variants in Pals1-Associated Tight Junction (PATJ) gene were associated with worse functional outcome at 3-month after stroke. The top variant was rs76221407 (G allele, beta=0•40, p=1•70×10 −9). Conclusions: Our results identify a set of common variants in PATJ gene associated with 3month functional outcome at genome-wide significance level. Future studies should examine the role of PATJ in stroke recovery and consider stringent phenotyping to enrich the information captured to unveil additional stroke outcome loci.

Background Clinical complexity is increasingly prevalent among patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The ‘Atrial fibrillation Better Care’ (ABC) pathway approach has been proposed to streamline a more holistic and integrated approach to AF care; however, there are limited data on its usefulness among clinically complex patients. We aim to determine the impact of ABC pathway in a contemporary cohort of clinically complex AF patients. Methods From the ESC-EHRA EORP-AF General Long-Term Registry, we analysed clinically complex AF patients, defined as the presence of frailty, multimorbidity and/or polypharmacy. A K-medoids cluster analysis was performed to identify different groups of clinical complexity. The impact of an ABC-adherent approach on major outcomes was analysed through Cox-regression analyses and delay of event (DoE) analyses. Results Among 9966 AF patients included, 8289 (83.1%) were clinically complex. Adherence to the ABC pathway in the clinically complex group reduced the risk of all-cause death (adjusted HR [aHR]: 0.72, 95%CI 0.58–0.91), major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs; aHR: 0.68, 95%CI 0.52–0.87) and composite outcome (aHR: 0.70, 95%CI: 0.58–0.85). Adherence to the ABC pathway was associated with a significant reduction in the risk of death (aHR: 0.74, 95%CI 0.56–0.98) and composite outcome (aHR: 0.76, 95%CI 0.60–0.96) also in the high-complexity cluster; similar trends were observed for MACEs. In DoE analyses, an ABC-adherent approach resulted in significant gains in event-free survival for all the outcomes investigated in clinically complex patients. Based on absolute risk reduction at 1 year of follow-up, the number needed to treat for ABC pathway adherence was 24 for all-cause death, 31 for MACEs and 20 for the composite outcome. Conclusions An ABC-adherent approach reduces the risk of major outcomes in clinically complex AF patients. Ensuring adherence to the ABC pathway is essential to improve clinical outcomes among clinically complex AF patients.

Aims The 4S-AF classification scheme comprises of four domains: stroke risk (St), symptoms (Sy), severity of atrial fibrillation (AF) burden (Sb), and substrate (Su). We sought to examine the implementation of the 4S-AF scheme in the EORP-AF General Long-Term Registry and compare outcomes in AF patients according to the 4S-AF-led decision-making process. Methods and results  Atrial fibrillation patients from 250 centres across 27 European countries were included. A 4S-AF score was calculated as the sum of each domain with a maximum score of 9. Of 6321 patients, 8.4% had low (St), 47.5% EHRA I (Sy), 40.5% newly diagnosed or paroxysmal AF (Sb), and 5.1% no cardiovascular risk factors or left atrial enlargement (Su). Median follow-up was 24 months. Using multivariable Cox regression analysis, independent predictors of all-cause mortality were (St) [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 8.21, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.60–25.9], (Sb) (aHR 1.21, 95% CI: 1.08–1.35), and (Su) (aHR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.14–1.41). For CV mortality and any thromboembolic event, only (Su) (aHR 1.73, 95% CI: 1.45–2.06) and (Sy) (aHR 1.29, 95% CI: 1.00–1.66) were statistically significant, respectively. None of the domains were independently linked to ischaemic stroke or major bleeding. Higher 4S-AF score was related to a significant increase in all-cause mortality, CV mortality, any thromboembolic event, and ischaemic stroke but not major bleeding. Treatment of all 4S-AF domains was associated with an independent decrease in all-cause mortality (aHR 0.71, 95% CI: 0.55–0.92). For each 4S-AF domain left untreated, the risk of all-cause mortality increased substantially (aHR 1.35, 95% CI: 1.16–1.56). Conclusion  Implementation of the novel 4S-AF scheme is feasible, and treatment decisions based on this scheme improve mortality rates in AF.