CircRNAs belong to a novel class of noncoding RNAs that are generated by exons of genes by alternative
mRNA splicing and involved in pathophysiological processes of
ischemic stroke by regulating neuro-
inflammation. A total of 982 patients were enrolled in our study for
stroke recovery analysis. The aim of our study was to first explore the association between the
inflammation-related
circRNA polymorphism and functional outcome 3 months after
ischemic stroke by using multivariate logistic regression model. Next, we further investigated the role of
circRNA polymorphism in predicting
stroke recurrence by using Cox proportional hazard regression model. Five
circRNA polymorphisms were genotyped by using polymerase chain reaction and
ligation detection reaction method. We identified circ-STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription) rs2293152 GG genotype to be associated with poorer recovery 90 days after
stroke (OR = 1.452, 95% CI: 1.165-4.362, p = 0.016). After adjusting for confound factors, the association for rs2293152 with 3 months outcome after IS was stronger, suggesting a mechanism that rs2293152 is an independent risk factor for
stroke recovery (OR = 2.255, 95% CI: 1.034-2.038, p = 0.031). However, no other
circRNA polymorphisms (circ-DLGAP4 rs41274714, circ-
TRAF2 rs10870141, circ-ITCH rs10485505, rs4911154) were associated with functional outcome 3 months after
stroke in any genetic models. Subgroup analysis revealed that the negative effect of rs2293152 GG genotype was greater in female and older patients, subjects with history of
hypertension. Additionally, all the
circRNA polymorphisms were not correlated with recurrent risk of
ischemic stroke. Our results indicated that circ-STAT3 might be a novel
biomarker for predicting functional outcome after
stroke and an important contributor to the
ischemic stroke recovery.