Fasting glucose and HbA 1c levels as risk factors for the presence of intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis

Background: Intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS) is the most common cause of stroke, but the relationship of ICAS with fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA 1c ) is unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of increased FBG and HbA 1c concentration on ICAS. Methods: A total of 4,012 patients aged over 40 years who underwent cerebral magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) were enrolled in this study, including 1,434 non-stroke controls and 2,578 patients with ischemic stroke. Participants were classified into four groups according to stroke and ICAS status. ICAS was defined as the presence of ≥50% stenosis in any intracranial artery. Multivariate regression analysis was used to evaluate the associations of FBG and HbA 1c with ICAS. Results: Levels of fasting glucose and HbA 1c in patients with ICAS were significantly higher than those in patients without ICAS among both stroke and non-stroke groups. Multivariate regression analysis showed that elevated levels of fasting glucose (OR 1.14, 95% CI, 1.11–1.18, P 1c (OR 1.22, 95% CI, 1.16–1.28, P 1c quartile in both non-stroke (OR 3.50, 95% CI, 2.23–5.61, P Conclusions: The results suggest that elevated fasting glucose and HbA 1c levels are associated with high risk for ICAS.