Background: Inflammation seems to be the most important trigger for atherosclerosis. Lower extremity artery disease (LEAD) and hypertension (HTN) are the most important atherosclerotic diseases. Total blood count-derived neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and red cell distribution width (RDW) have been proposed as inflammatory biomarkers in cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the correlation with LEAD and HTN.
Material and methods: In total, 134 subjects were included in the study, divided into 2 groups as follows: group 1 – patients with LEAD and HTN; group 2 – subjects with HTN, without LEAD. Complete blood count (CBC) and lipid profile were determined. To assess peripheral artery disease, the ankle-brachial index (ABI) was measured with a handheld Doppler device (BiDop ES100V3 Hadeco®). We compared the inflammatory status between the groups with the use of white blood cell count (WBC), red cell distribution (RDW), and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR).
Results: In group 1, there was a significant negative correlation between the ABI and RDW (p = 0.04, r2 = –0.24, 95% CI: 0.4647–0.0013), as well as between the ABI and NLR (p = 0.001, r2 = –0.38, 95% CI: 0.5801–0.1592). In group 2, there was a positive correlation between NLR and total serum cholesterol levels (p = 0.003, 95% CI: 0.1274–0.5472, r2 = 0.12), as well as between NLR and triglyceride levels (p = 0.002, 95% CI: 0.1387–0.5552, r2 = 0.13).
Conclusion: NLR and RDW could represent first-line investigations in patients with cardiovascular disease due their cost efficiency. They can also play a role in triaging patients with atherosclerotic disease, monitoring treatment response and prognosis of the disease.
