Inflammation-related Biomarkers Are Associated With Severity Of Idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy (IDCM): ABrief Report On Patients Of West Bengal, India

ABSTRACT

Objective- The aim of this study was to assess whether major blood inflammatory parameters like neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels are associated with left ventricular remodeling parameters, New York heart association (NYHA) functional classes and pro-B- type natriuretic peptide (pro-BNP) levels in patients with idiopathic DCM. Methodology-59 patients with DCM were initially screened and categorized as idiopathic DCM and 22 were included for further analyses due to COVID-19 restrictions and positive cases were eliminated from the study. Biochemical assessment and echocardiographic investigations were done to assess cardiac structure and function. Results- There was a statistically significant correlation found between NLR and NYHA functional class (r=0.48, p<0.001), pro-BNP level (r=0.61, P<0.001) and left ventricular (LV) systolic parameters. Similar correlation was observed for IL-6 (with NYHA, r=0.40, P=0.011 and with pro-BNP, r=0.55, P=0.002). hs-CRP showed low to moderate correlation with the cardiac markers. NLR was also significantly higher in NYHA functional class III-IV patients (n=11) compared to NYHA class I-II (n=11), (3.1±0.5 vs 3.8±0.8, P=0.045). IL-6 showed similar significant difference between NYHA class I-II and III-IV (10.0±2.6 vs 20.0±11.2, P=0.045). NLR and IL-6 also found to be independent positive predictors of heart failure progression in NYHA class III-IV (P=0.019 and 0.015 respectively). Conclusion- Our findings clearly exhibit the efficacy of NLR and IL-6 in predicting severity of chronic heart failure in IDCM patients.