Association of malnutrition with renal dysfunction and clinical outcome in patients with heart failure

Malnutrition, glomerular damage (GD), and renal tubular damage (RTD) are common morbidities associated with poor clinical outcomes in heart failure (HF) patients. However, the association between malnutrition and renal dysfunction and its impact on clinical outcomes in HF patients have not yet been fully elucidated. We assessed the nutritional status and renal function of 1061 consecutive HF patients. Malnutrition, GD, and RTD were defined as a controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score of ≥ 5, reduced eGFR or microalbuminuria, and levels of N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosamidase of > 14.2 U/gCr according to previous reports, respectively. Patients with RTD had a higher CONUT score and a lower prognostic nutritional index and geriatric nutritional risk index than those without. Multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that RTD, but not GD, was significantly associated with malnutrition. There were 360 cardiac events during the median follow-up period of 688 days. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis demonstrated that comorbid malnutrition and renal dysfunction, rather than simple malnutrition, were significantly associated with cardiac events in HF patients. We found a close relationship between malnutrition and renal dysfunction in HF patients. Comorbid malnutrition and renal dysfunction were risk factors for cardiac events in HF patients, suggesting the importance of managing and treating these.