Background: Subclinical diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) occurs frequently in asymptomatic subjects with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The direct association between the immune system and DCM with effective biomarkers has been demonstrated in previous studies.
Methods: Five hundred seven subjects with T2DM were recruited from April 2018 to October 2019 and divided into T2DM with cardiac dysfunction (DCM) group and T2DM without cardiac dysfunction (non-DCM) group. The relationship between the quartiles of Neutrophil: lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and subclinical DCM was evaluated by using adjusted logistic regression models.(covariates: age, sex, BMI, duration of diabetes, and hyperlipidemia).
Results: Blood NLR was significantly upregulated in DCM group compared to non-DCM group (P = 0.05). Then the adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) of the highest NLR quartile was 14.32 (2.92-70.31) compared with the lowest quartile of NLR after multiple adjusted (P < 0.001). However, there was no significant relation between neutrophil and lymphocyte counts and the occurrence of DCM in T2DM patients.
Conclusions: This study demonstrated that NLR was associated with the occurrence of subclinical DCM, suggesting that NLR may be a biomarker for predicting DCM with effectiveness and accuracy.
Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1900027080) . Registered 30 October 2019. Retrospectively registered: www.medresman.org.
Keywords: Diabetic cardiomyopathy; NLR; Type 2 diabetes.