Background/aims: Chronic inflammation is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular death in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Although elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a novel inflammatory marker, has been shown to predict cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality in the general population, limited evidence is available for its role in ESRD.
Methods: We enrolled 86 patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD) for a 36-month follow-up to investigate the association between the NLR and arterial stiffness markers, namely, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV) and carotid augmentation index (AIx), and mortality in PD patients. The primary endpoints were cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to show the cumulative incidence of cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality.
Results: High NLR was found to be a predictor of increased cfPWV (β = 1.150; P < 0.001) and AIx (β = 3.945; P < 0.001) in patients on PD. Patients with higher NLR had lower survival during follow-up. Kaplan-Meier curves showed that the cumulative incidences of both cardiovascular mortality and all-cause mortality were significantly higher in patients with NLR ≥ 4.5 (both P < 0.01).
Conclusion: Our results suggest that high NLR is independently associated with arterial stiffness and predicts cardiovascular and all-cause mortality in PD patients.
Keywords: Arterial stiffness; Cardiovascular mortality; Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; Peritoneal dialysis.
© 2018 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.