MMP9 and Stroke: Based on animal studies, oxidative stress is considered a key component of ischemic brain injury [38], a finding further confirmed by Kelly et al. Their study reported elevated levels of F2-isoprostanes (F2IPs), another lipid peroxidation marker, in early stroke patients compared to controls, which correlated with plasma matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) levels in all stroke patients [39].