Comparing the Seroprevalence of anti-VZV Ab between acute ischemic stroke patients and control group

Varicella zoster virus (VZV) infection of cerebral arteries produces a vasculopathy, manifesting most often as ischemic stroke and less often as hemorrhagic stroke. The aim of this study was to compare the prevalence of anti-VZV IgG seropositivity between acute stroke patients and control group.
In this population-based cross-sectional study, 87 patients with acute ischemic stroke were recruited as case group. Eighty seven subjects without history of stroke or other neurological disorders also were enrolled as control group and matched for age and sex. IgG antibodies to VZV were measured by the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS- 16. Two groups were adjusted for socio-demographics and stroke risk factors.
The mean age of the stroke patients was 71.33 years (± 10.95) and for the control group was 67.69 years (± 11). The seroprevalence rate of anti-VZV IgG was 95.5% in the stroke patients versus 96.3% in the control group. This difference was not statistically significant (p-value=0.5).
Current study does not provide evidence of any association between the immune response to VZV as a marker of prior infection and acute ischemic stroke.