In this study, we found that AST/ALT and AST/ALP ratios were significantly higher in patients who deceased after 3 months than in those who survived. In addition, a significant direct correlation was noted between both AST/ALT and AST/ALP ratios and the 3-month mRS score. These associations with 3-month mortality as well as 3-month mRS outcome remained significant even after adjusting for related cofounders in regression models (P < 0.05). In contrast, ALP/ALT ratio was not associated with either three-month mortality or mRS.
De Ritis first introduced the AST/ALT ratio (De Ritis ratio, AAR) in 1957 to diagnose viral hepatitis [
16]. Subsequent studies suggested the AAR ratio as a diagnostic marker for alcoholic and other liver-associated diseases, an independent predictor for long-term mortality following an acute myocardial infarction, and a prognostic biomarker of in-hospital mortality in COVID-19 patients [
17‐
20]. Congruent with our results, Gao et al.’s study showed a significant association between increased AAR at admission and poor outcome at 3 months in AIS patients. In that study, the AAR > 1.53 at admission was associated with a 1.89-fold greater probability of a poor outcome [
8]. Moreover, another study adjusted for confounding factors showed that higher AAR levels are correlated with an increased risk of hemorrhagic transformation in ischemic stroke patients [
21]. In addition, a previous study by Robles-Diaz et. described the association between AST/ALP ratio and drug-induced liver injuries [
22]. However, to our knowledge, our study is the first to find such a correlation between AST/ALP and both three-month mortality and mRS in AIS patients. In this study, ALP levels were significantly higher in patients who died than in those who survived (
P < 0.05). Previous studies have demonstrated the role of ALP in worse prognosis. Zhong et al.’s study revealed a relationship between serum ALP levels and the risk of early mortality in AIS patients [
23]. Moreover, according to Ryu et al.’s study, there was an association between elevated serum ALP levels and the risk of mortality after ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke [
14]. Although the exact mechanisms of higher serum ALP levels in a poor 3-month prognosis (higher mRS or mortality) are not fully understood, based on previous studies, ALP may play an important role in the permeability, maintenance, and integrity of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and also in the transport of proteins across the barrier. Therefore, the high ALP levels may disrupt the transport of these proteins, leading to the breakdown of the BBB and neuronal death [
24]. Besides, the potential association of higher levels of ALP with neuroinflammation and enhancement of vascular calcification by inactivating organic pyrophosphate, an important vascular calcification inhibitor, may be other reasons for higher ALP levels in patients with a poor prognosis [
24,
25]. However, apart from higher ALP levels in AIS patients with poor outcomes, researchers have suggested a contradictory role for AST and ALT in these patients. So far, some studies have indicated systematic inflammatory response and subsequent hemodynamic changes activated by AIS as two potential mechanisms leading to liver injury and inflammation [
26]. Instead, the study by Campos et al. indicated a significant correlation between high blood AST and ALT levels with better outcomes in ischemic stroke patients, which was more robust for AST than ALT levels [
5]. These authors hypothesized that AST might play a protective role, as it can metabolize and neutralize the toxic glutamate released from the ischemic cerebral tissue into the bloodstream. Therefore, they concluded that pre-existing levels of AST would influence infarct size, and patients with poor production of protective AST would experience larger infarcts [
4,
27]. Rather, Muscari et al.’s study showed that AST levels increase gradually, peaking about 7 days after admission and plateauing after that, revealing infarct volume and AST levels are not only directly correlated but also become increasingly stronger over time after the acute event [
27]. These results elucidated that AST production is influenced by cerebral infarct volume, not vice versa. Thus, it seems possible that certain substances released from cerebral infarction and different from inflammatory cytokines (perhaps glutamate itself) could be able to stimulate AST production. In this regard, Castillo et al.’s study revealed the association of high glutamate levels in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid with larger infarct volume and greater stroke severity. Also, another investigation indicated a relationship between higher glutamate levels with neurological deterioration after acute ischemic stroke [
28,
29]. Generally, during ischemia, neurons, and astrocytes release a large amount of glutamate, leading to a cellular overload of calcium. A high intracellular calcium level induces cellular structure damage and necrosis [
30]. Both AST and ALT metabolize glutamate in the blood. Hence, by decreasing the glutamate level in the blood, they induce a brain-blood shift of glutamate that would play a neuroprotective role against neural injury after ischemic stroke [
31,
32]. However, it is still possible that the subsequent response of AST and ALT to increased release of certain substances from cerebral infarct (like glutamate) be too late to offset the adverse effects. In line with this, our study showed significantly higher AST and ALT levels in deceased patients than in those who survived. The same results were also reported by Gao et al. study [
8]. Similarly, studies have shown a significant association between hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after ischemic stroke and high levels of AST [
26]. According to these results, elevated AST and ALT levels in deceased patients may respond to a more significant substance release (perhaps glutamate) from damaged cells, indicating a more severe brain injury. On the other hand, it can be assumed that the elevated AAR in poor AIS outcomes could be due to the difference in activity between AST and ALT. According to numerous studies, ALT is primarily enriched in liver tissue, whereas AST is widely distributed in various organs including the brain, muscle, kidney, and heart. As a result, even when the patient’s condition deteriorates, AST could remain in a higher proliferative state than ALT [
33‐
35]. In other words, the reduction in ALT levels in poor outcome patients would be larger than that for AST, leading to higher AAR being contributed to a poor outcome [
8]. Nevertheless, further studies need to investigate the exact pathophysiology behind the elevated AST and ALT levels as well as their association with AIS prognosis to answer the question of whether high levels of the AST and ALT are a sign of increased specific substance release (perhaps glutamate) from cerebral infarct and neuronal cell injury or not.