Elevated AST/ALT ratio is associated with all-cause mortality in patients with stable coronary artery disease: a...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Biochemistry
• Clinical Medicine

Background:

• Stable coronary artery disease (CAD) patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) face risks of all-cause mortality (ACM).
• The aspartate amino transferase (AST)/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio is a biochemical marker that may indicate liver health and systemic inflammation.
• Exploring novel prognostic factors for ACM in CAD patients is crucial for risk stratification and management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between the AST/ALT ratio and ACM in stable CAD patients treated with PCI.
• To determine if the AST/ALT ratio is an independent predictor of ACM in this specific patient cohort.

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of a retrospective cohort study including 203 stable CAD patients.
• Patients were stratified into low (<1.40) and high (≥1.40) AST/ALT ratio groups based on ROC curve analysis.
• Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess ACM, with hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Main Results:

• ACM occurred in 18 patients (8.87%) during a mean follow-up of 749 days.
• The high AST/ALT ratio group showed a significantly higher incidence of ACM (16.22%) compared to the low AST/ALT ratio group (4.65%; P=0.005).
• An elevated AST/ALT ratio was independently associated with increased ACM (HR 2.93; P=0.034) after adjusting for confounders.

Conclusions:

• An elevated AST/ALT ratio is an independent prognostic factor for ACM in stable CAD patients treated with PCI.
• The AST/ALT ratio may serve as a valuable, easily accessible biomarker for predicting mortality risk in this population.
• Further prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings and explore underlying mechanisms.