Correlation of peripheral neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio（NLR） to severity and plaque stability in coronary intermediate stenosis

Abstract:

Objective：To investigate the correlation of peripheral neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio（NLR） to the severity of atherosclerosis and plaque stability in patients with coronary intermediate stenosis. Methods：Totally 51 patients with coronary intermediate stenosis were divided into two groups according to the absolute value of NLR：high NLR group（NLR>2.73，n=23） and low NLR group（NLR≤2.73，n=28）. Basic clinical history and related laboratory parameters were collected. The severity of coronary artery stenosis and plaque components were analyzed by coronary angiography（CAG） and intravascular ultrasound（IVUS）. Results：（1）The incidence of Non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome（NSTE-ACS） was significantly higher in high NLR group than in low NLR group（70% vs. 39%，P=0.031）；（2）The degree and ratio of coronary artery stenosis were remarkably higher in patients of high NLR group compared with those in patients of low NLR group according to the measurements of coronary minimal lumen diameter [（1.28 ± 0.04） mm vs. （1.44±0.03） mm，P=0.002] and diameter stenosis percentage[（61.69±1.37）% vs. （55.03± 0.91）%，P=0.000）]；（3）The plaque burden and the length of lesions in high NLR group was significantly heavier than that in low NLR group[（74.51 ± 1.16）% vs. （69.90±1.22）%，P=0.010；（22.33±1.24） mm vs. （19.34±0.55） mm，P=0.023]. The incidence of thin-cap fibroatheroma（TCFA） and the percentage of necrotic core area were also higher in high NLR group than in low NLR group[For TCFA incidence，57% vs. 25%，P=0.022；for the percentage of necrotic core area，（24.70±0.70） % vs. （21.11±0.74）%，P=0.001]. Conclusion：NLR is posi－tively correlative to the severity of coronary intermediate stenosis，which might be a novel biomarker predicting the instability of atherosclerotic plaques，and helping for therapy planning in patients with coronary intermediate stenosis.