OBJECTIVETo study the relationship between the expressions of thrombin-antithrombin (TAT) complex and excess syndrome of stroke (ESS) and depletion syndrome of stroke (DSS) by dynamically observing the expressions of TAT complex in the plasma and hematoma fluid of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) patients.

METHODSSixty patients were assigned to three groups according to syndrome typing, i.e., as yang excess group (18 cases), yin excess group (22 cases), and depletion syndrome group (20 cases). The hemorrhage volume was assessed. NIHSS and GCS were scored. Besides, 30 healthy volunteers at the Physical Examination Center, Second People's Hospital Affiliated to Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were recruited as the normal control group. Another 10 patients in need of lumbal anesthesia were recruited as the cerebrospinal fluid control group, who suffered from surgical, gynecologic pelvic diseases, or diseases from lower limbs, but unaccompanied with cardio-/cerebrovascular diseases. The expressions of TAT complex were detected in the venous blood and hematoma fluid of the patient groups and in the venous blood or the cerebrospinal fluid of the control group using ELISA.

RESULTSThe syndromes were sequenced as the depletion syndrome > the yin excess syndrome > the yang excess syndrome according to the hemorrhage volume and NIHSS score. They were sequenced as the yang excess syndrome > the yin excess syndrome >the depletion syndrome according to the GCS score. The plasma TAT complex content on the 4th day in the ICH group was lower than that at the rest time points, showing statistical significance (P<0.01). Compared with the normal control group, the plasma TAT complex on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th day all increased with statistical difference (P<0.01). Statistical significance of the TAT complex in the hematoma fluid of the ICH group existed when compared it on the 1st, 2nd, and 4th day (P<0.01). Compared with the cerebrospinal fluid control group, the contents of the TAT complex in the hematoma fluid of the ICH group increased with statistical difference (P<0.01). The hemorrhage volume of ICH patients was positively correlated with NIHSS (r=0.809, P<0.01) and negatively correlated with GCS (r=-0.833, P<0.01). The TAT complex was obviously higher in the ICH group than in the two control groups in a dynamic way (P<0.01). There was obvious difference in the expressions of TAT among yang excess group, yin excess group, and depletion syndrome group (P<0.01). The expressions of TAT in the plasma and the hematoma fluid of the ICH group were negatively correlated with GCS score and positively correlated with NIHSS score (both P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSTAT complex participated in secondary neuron injury after ICH, which could be taken as an objective index for clinical observation. It also could provide evidence for syndrome quantification of excess syndrome and depletion syndrome.