Platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase in plasma lipoproteins from patients with ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Platelet-activating factor is a potent bioactive phospholipid and may play an important role in occlusive vascular diseases. To assess the inactivation of this autacoid in plasma, we measured platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase activity in plasma low density and high density lipoproteins from patients with ischemic stroke. METHODS Low density and high density lipoproteins were separated by ultracentrifugation from plasma of 33 patients with cerebral thrombosis and 31 age-matched healthy control subjects, and platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase activity in each fraction was assayed. RESULTS The average values of platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase activity in low density lipoprotein from patients and control subjects were 41 +/- 18 and 29 +/- 17 nmol/ml per minute, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (p less than 0.01 U test). There was no difference in activity in high density lipoprotein between the two groups (16 +/- 11 versus 14 +/- 9 nmol/ml per minute, respectively). CONCLUSIONS The increased plasma platelet-activating factor acetylhydrolase activity in stroke patients is primarily attributable to the increased binding to low density lipoprotein, and this increase may be an adaptation to the augmented generation of platelet-activating factor in ischemic stroke.