Abstract:Objective To analyze the relationship between serum levels of cystatin C and depression after acute ischemic stroke.Methods A total of 100 patients with acute ischemic stroke admitted to our hospital from January 2019 to June 2022 were prospectively selected and divided into depression and non-depression groups according to the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) scores at 2 weeks after the onset of disease. The clinical data and laboratory indicators of the two groups were compared, and the relationship between serum levels of cystatin C and depression after acute ischemic stroke was analyzed.Results The proportion of patients with large artery atherosclerotic stroke in the depression group was lower than that in the non-depression group, while the proportion of patients with involvement of cortical and subcortical structures associated with emotions on imaging examinations in the depression group was higher than that in the non-depression group (P < 0.05). There was no difference in the sex composition, age, areas of infarction, history of smoking or HAMD-17 scores at admission between the depression group and the non-depression group (P > 0.05). The serum levels of cystatin C and homocysteine were higher in the depression group than in the non-depression group (P < 0.05), whereas the levels of triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were not different between the two groups (P > 0.05). The serum levels of cystatin C and homocysteine in patients with small artery occlusion stroke were higher than those with other types of stroke (P < 0.05). Besides, the serum levels of cystatin C and homocysteine in the involvement group were higher than those in the non-involvement group (P < 0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis exhibited that high levels of cystatin C [O^R = 26.330, (95% CI: 3.797, 182.566) ] and homocysteine [O^R = 1.241, (95% CI: 1.105, 1.393) ] were risk factors for the occurrence of depression after acute ischemic stroke (P < 0.05). The point-biserial correlation analysis showed that the serum levels of cystatin C and homocysteine were positively correlated with the occurrence of depression after acute ischemic stroke (r = 0.371 and 0.424, both P < 0.05). The cutoff value of the level of cystatin C for predicting the occurrence of depression after acute ischemic stroke was 0.795 mg/L, with the sensitivity, specificity and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) being 0.714 (95% CI: 0.596, 0.815), 0.813 (95% CI: 0.745, 0.884), and 0.724 (95% CI: 0.619, 0.828), respectively.Conclusions Serum levels of cystatin C and homocysteine are closely related to depression after acute ischemic stroke, and may be factors affecting the co-occurrence of depression in acute ischemic stroke patients.