Patent ID: 7202089

Claim:
A method of determining the presence of stroke in a mammal comprising the steps of: providing a body fluid sample selected from the group consisting of whole blood, serum and plasma from a mammal exhibiting symptoms consistent with ischemic stroke; mixing the sample with an aqueous solution and with a reagent comprising a fatty acid binding protein labeled with a fluorescent moiety, wherein said reagent exhibits a first fluorescence in an aqueous solution and a measurably different second fluorescence in an aqueous solution when said fatty acid binding protein is bound to a fatty acid; measuring said second fluorescence after said body fluid sample is mixed with said aqueous solution and said reagent to determine a concentration of unbound free fatty acid in said body fluid sample; and comparing the concentration of unbound free fatty acid in the body fluid sample to a threshold value determined from a normal population that does not have stroke, wherein an elevated value indicates the presence of stroke.