No abstract

Long-term and high-dose allopurinol therapy significantly improved endothelial function in diabetic normotensive patients. In addition, allopurinol therapy contributes to the lower HbA1c levels.

Background/AimsBecause of the inflammatory nature of coronary artery disease (CAD), both platelets and white blood cells have been investigated for years. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between some prominently hematologic blood count parameters (mean platelet volume [MPV], neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio [NLR]) and the severity of CAD by using Gensini scores.MethodsA total of 194 patients, who had undergone coronary angiography, enrolled in this study. The control group consisted of 42 patients who had normal coronary arteries. Remaining CAD patients were divided into two groups according to their Gensini scores.ResultsNLR and MPV were higher in the severe atherosclerosis group compared with the mild atherosclerosis group (p = 0.007, p = 0.005, respectively). The Gensini score showed significant correlations with NLR (r = 0.20, p = 0.011), MPV (r = 0.23, p = 0.004) and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = –0.161, p = 0.047). Using a cut-off level of 2.54, NLR predicted severe atherosclerosis with a sensitivity of 74% and specificity of 53% (area under curve [AUC], 0.627; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.545 to 0.704; p = 0.004). MPV values above 10.4 predicted severe atherosclerosis with a sensitivity of 39% and specificity of 90% (AUC, 0.631; 95% CI, 0.549 to 0.708; p = 0.003). In the multiple logistic regression analysis, high levels of NLR (odds ratio [OR], 1.450; 95% CI, 1.080 to 1.945; p = 0.013) and MPV (OR, 1.622; 95% CI, 1.147 to 2.295; p = 0.006) were found to be independent predictors of severe atherosclerosis.ConclusionsOur study suggests that both NLR and MPV are predictors of severe atherosclerosis and may be used for the prediction and identification of cardiac risks in CAD patients.

Early and accurate risk prediction is an important clinical demand in patients with infective endocarditis (IE). The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is an independent predictor of worse prognosis in various cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the value of PLR in the prediction of in-hospital mortality among IE patients. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic data of 59 adult patients with definite IE and in 40 adult controls. In-hospital mortality occurred in 16 (27%) patients. Vegetation size, levels of high-sensitive C-reactive protein and procalcitonin, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, and PLR were significantly higher in the in-hospital-mortality-positive group than in the in-hospital-mortality-negative group (p = 0.004, p = 0.009, p = 0.030, p = 0.001, and p = 0.008, respectively). Lymphocyte count was, however, significantly lower in the in-hospital-mortality-positive group (p = 0.004). In the receiver-operating characteristic analysis, PLRs over 191.01 predicted in-hospital mortality with 56.3% sensitivity and 81.4% specificity [area under the curve 0.725, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.594-0.833; p = 0.0027]. In the multivariate analysis, PLR was found to be an independent predictor of in-hospital mortality in patients with IE (odds ratio 1.022, 95% CI 1.003-1.042; p = 0.021). In conclusion, higher PLR may predict in-hospital mortality in patients with IE.

Aims. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) with carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods and Results. A total of 139 patients with T2DM (mean age 54.3 ± 9.2 and 49.6% male) and 40 age and sex-matched control subjects were evaluated. Echocardiographic EFT and ultrasonographic CIMT were measured in all subjects. Patients with T2DM had significantly increased EFT and CIMT than those of the controls (6.0 ± 1.5 mm versus 4.42 ± 1.0 mm, P < 0.001 and 0.76 ± 0.17 mm versus 0.57 ± 0.14 mm, P < 0.001, resp.). EFT was correlated with CIMT, waist circumference, BMI, age, duration of T2DM, HbA1c in the type 2 diabetic patients. Linear regression analysis showed that CIMT (β = 3.52, t = 3.72, P < 0.001) and waist circumference (β = 0.36, t = 2.26, P = 0.03) were found to be independent predictors of EFT. A cutoff high risk EFT value of 6.3 mm showed a sensitivity and specificity of 72.5% and 71.7%, respectively, for the prediction of subclinical atherosclerosis. Conclusion. We found that echocardiographic EFT was significantly higher in patients with T2DM. Our study also showed that EFT was strongly correlated with waist circumference and CIMT as being independent of sex.