CD46 and small vessel stroke: CD46 mRNA levels were found to be significantly higher (p-value < 0.001) in large artery (median = 5.05; interquartile range = 2.54–6.46) and small vessel stroke patients (median = 6.45; interquartile range = 3.87–9.90) as compared with cardioembolic stroke patients (median = 1.32; interquartile range = 0.86–1.58; Fig 1A).