Evolocumab intensive lipid-lowering therapy on prognosis of post-cerebral infarction depression

Table 4 Biomarkers and neuroprotective indicators at 24 weeks, mean ± SD

Biomarker	Intensive group (n = 72)	Standard group (n = 72)	P value
Lipid and PCSK9 pathway
PCSK9 (ng/mL)	148.7 ± 38.5	285.3 ± 62.4	< 0.001
Reduction from baseline	62.1 ± 8.3	26.2 ± 7.1	< 0.001
LDL-C (mmol/L)	1.2 ± 0.3	2.0 ± 0.5	< 0.001
LDL-C < 1.4 mmol/L achieved, n (%)	59 (81.9)	20 (27.8)	< 0.001
Total cholesterol (mmol/L)	3.3 ± 0.6	4.1 ± 0.7	< 0.001
HDL-C (mmol/L)	1.3 ± 0.3	1.2 ± 0.3	0.054
Triglycerides (mmol/L)	1.4 ± 0.5	1.5 ± 0.6	0.274
Inflammatory markers
IL-6 (pg/mL)	2.8 ± 0.7	4.9 ± 1.1	< 0.001
Reduction from baseline	71.1 ± 9.2	48.4 ± 10.3	< 0.001
TNF-α (pg/mL)	7.6 ± 1.4	11.8 ± 2.3	< 0.001
hs-CRP (mg/L)	2.2 ± 0.7	3.9 ± 1.2	< 0.001
Neurotrophic factors
BDNF (ng/mL)	26.8 ± 5.2	18.3 ± 4.1	< 0.001
Increase from baseline	88.7 ± 18.4	26.2 ± 12.7	< 0.001
Oxidative stress markers
Malondialdehyde (μmol/L)	3.2 ± 0.8	5.1 ± 1.2	< 0.001
SOD activity (U/mL)	148.7 ± 22.3	112.4 ± 18.6	< 0.001

PCSK9: Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9; LDL-C: Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; HDL-C: High-density lipoprotein cholesterol; IL-6: Interleukin-6; TNF-α: Tumor necrosis factor-alpha; hs-CRP: High-sensitivity C-reactive protein; BDNF: Brain-derived neurotrophic factor; SOD: Superoxide dismutase.