Relationship Between Mitral Annular Calcification and Inflammatory Indices in Patients with Cardiometabolic Risk...

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Internal Medicine
• Biomarkers

Background:

• Mitral annular calcification (MAC) is linked to systemic atherosclerosis and cardiometabolic risk factors.
• The relationship between hematologic inflammatory indices and MAC, particularly within a cardiometabolic context, remains incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether hematologic inflammatory indices are independently associated with mild mitral annular calcification (MAC) after adjusting for cardiometabolic factors.
• To identify the primary independent predictors of mild MAC in a population with established cardiometabolic risk.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, cross-sectional study compared adults with mild MAC to those without MAC, excluding individuals with significant comorbidities.
• Analyzed C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), Systemic Inflammatory Response Index (SIRI), and lymphocyte-to-leukocyte ratio (LLR) in relation to MAC status.
• Multivariable logistic regression models were employed to assess independent associations after comprehensive cardiometabolic adjustment.

Main Results:

• Of 205 patients, 134 had mild MAC. Patients with MAC were older with higher cardiometabolic burden (dysglycemia, hypertension, adiposity).
• Unadjusted inflammatory markers (CRP, NLR, SIRI, LLR) differed between MAC groups (p ≤ 0.039).
• After multivariable adjustment, no inflammatory markers remained independently associated with MAC. Age (ORs 1.056-1.063), prediabetes (ORs 2.43-3.63), and type 2 diabetes (ORs 5.91-6.19) were consistently associated (p ≤ 0.001).

Conclusions:

• In this cohort, inflammatory indices did not show independent associations with mild MAC after cardiometabolic adjustment.
• Findings suggest inflammatory markers primarily reflect the overall cardiometabolic milieu rather than being specific to MAC.
• Age and glucose metabolism abnormalities are the dominant independent predictors of mild MAC, highlighting metabolic dysfunction's role in its pathogenesis.