Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24664436›Full record

ArticleJournal of molecular neuroscience : MN2014

Activation of the kynurenine pathway in the acute phase of stroke and its role in fatigue and depression following stroke.

Heidi Ormstad, Robert Verkerk, Karl-Friedrich Amthor, Leiv Sandvik

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
1.8field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 51 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Interventions for post-stroke fatigue.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
    Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Review
  6. Elevated initial blood kynurenine is associated with increased odds of post-stroke infection: Kynurenine and post-stroke infection.Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
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  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Prevalence, Trajectory, and Predictors of Poststroke Fatigue among Ghanaians.Journal of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases : the official journal of National Stroke Association · 2019
    Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Heidi OrmstadFaculty of Health Sciences, Buskerud and Vestfold University College, 3004, Drammen, Norway, heidi.ormstad@hibu.no.
Robert Verkerk
Karl-Friedrich Amthor
Leiv Sandvik
Oslo University Hospital · NOUniversity of Antwerp · BEVestfold University College · NOVestre Viken Hospital Trust · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Many stroke survivors suffer from poststroke fatigue (PSF) and poststroke depression (PSD), indicating the importance of increasing the base of knowledge about the mechanisms underlying these sequelae. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether activation of the kynurenine (KYN) pathway predicts subsequent fatigue or depression in acute ischemic stroke (AIS) patients. Acute serum levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), tryptophan (TRP) catabolites (TRYCATs), and competing amino acids, as well as subsequent fatigue and depression, were measured in 45 stroke patients. TRP index [=100 × TRP / (tyrosine + valine + phenylalanine + leucine + isoleucine)] was significantly lower in patients with a Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) score of ≥4 at 12 months than in those with an FSS score of <4 (p = 0.039). Furthermore, the serum level of kynurenic acid in the acute stroke phase was significantly higher in patients with an FSS of score ≥4 at 18 months than in those with an FSS score of <4 (p = 0.026). These findings indicate that stroke patients with PSF have a lower bioavailability of TRP for 5-HT synthesis in the brain in the acute stroke phase. However, they also appear to have greater neuroprotective potential in that phase. In contrast to PSF, no predictors of PSD were found. These findings together with those of previous studies suggest that the immune response and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase activation that follows AIS can predict PSF but not PSD.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAged, 80 and overBiomarkersBrain IschemiaCase-Control StudiesDepressionFatigueFemaleHumansKynurenineMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisSerotoninStrokeBiomarkersKynurenineSerotoninTryptophan

Identifiers

PMID24664436
OpenAlexW2049344284

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.