Fig. 2

Altered cholinergic activity after acute ischemic stroke, especially in patients with pneumonia. a Within 24 h of stroke, patients with stroke-induced pneumonia had higher ACh concentrations than their counterparts without pneumonia. b–d Intracellular VAChT, AChE, and ChAT relative protein expression of PBMCs in stroke patients. VAChT and ChAT protein was only upregulated in PBMCs in acute ischemic stroke patients with pneumonia. Intracellular AChE activity showed a trend toward a decrease in acute ischemic stroke. Levels of protein expression by western blot are relative to the amount of GAPDH