Increased monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio is associated with TIMI risk score in patients with...

The monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (MHR) has recently been proposed as a new predictor and prognostic indicator in cardiovascular disease. The TIMI risk score predicts short-term mortality in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. However, there have been no studies regarding the association between MHR and TIMI score in patients with STEMI.

A total of 161 patients admitted to our hospital were prospectively enrolled between January 2014 and June 2016. Of these, 111 consecutive patients with a diagnosis of STEMI who underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) were selected as the STEMI group, and the remaining 50 patients, who had angiographically normal coronary arteries, were selected as the control group. The 111 STEMI patients were then divided into two subgroups based on TIMI scores.

MHR was significantly higher in the STEMI group than in the control group (1.71±0.47 vs. 2.21±0.98, p=0.001) and was significantly higher in the high TIMI score group than in the low TIMI score group (1.80±0.59 vs. 2.42±1.09, p=0.001). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, MHR was the only independent predictor of acute STEMI and high TIMI score. In correlation analysis, there was a significant positive correlation between MHR and TIMI score in STEMI patients (r=0.479, p<0.001). The cutoff value of MHR for high TIMI score in patients with STEMI was 2.409, with a sensitivity of 43.06% and a specificity of 87.18% (AUC 0.669; 95% CI 0.569-0.8769; p=0.003) on ROC curve analysis.

This study indicates that MHR is independently and significantly associated with TIMI score in patients with STEMI. MHR is a novel inflammation-based marker and may be an independent predictor of future cardiovascular events in patients with STEMI.