No abstract

The platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) is an integrated reflection of 2 opposite thrombotic/inflammatory pathways that are easily calculated from a complete blood count. The PLR initially served as a systemic inflammatory biomarker to predict the prognosis of neoplastic diseases. In recent years, the PLR has been used as a prognostic marker in cardiovascular (CV) conditions. In this review, we consider the evidence regarding the association of the PLR with CV disease (CVD) and its possible use as a prognostic marker of CVD. The role of PLR has been investigated in CV conditions in several studies. We assessed clinical trials using PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science (up to April 18, 2018) to evaluate the association between PLR and mortality/major adverse cardiac events in these conditions. Most of these studies reported significant relationships between a high PLR and diverse outcomes. In conclusion, we suggest that PLR is a cheap and easily available systemic inflammatory marker that can predict distinct outcomes in different types of CVD.

No abstract

Serum γ‐glutamyltransferase (GGT) is associated with oxidative stress and hepatic steatosis. The extent to which its value in determining incident cardiometabolic risk (coronary heart disease (CHD), metabolic syndrome (MetS), hypertension and type 2 diabetes) is independent of obesity needs to be further explored in ethnicities. After appropriate exclusions, a cohort of 1,667 adults of a general population (age 52 ±11 years) was evaluated prospectively at 4 year's follow‐up using partly Cox proportional hazard regressions. GGT activity was measured kinetically, and values were log‐transformed for analyses. MetS was identified by Adult Treatment Panel‐III criteria modified for male abdominal obesity. Median (interquartile range) GGT activity was 24.9 (17.0; 35.05) U/l in men, 17.0 (12.3; 24.0) U/l in women. In linear regression analysis, while smoking status was not associated, (male) sex, sex‐dependent age, alcohol usage, BMI, fasting triglycerides and C‐reactive protein (CRP) were significant independent determinants of circulating GGT. Each 1‐s.d. increment in (= 0.53 ln GGT) GGT activity significantly predicted in each sex incident hypertension (hazard ratio (HR) 1.20 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.10; 1.31)), and similarly MetS, after adjustment for age, alcohol usage, smoking status, BMI and menopause. Strongest independent association existed with diabetes (HR 1.3 (95% CI 1.1; 1.5)) whereas GGT activity tended to marginally predict CHD independent of total bilirubin but not of BMI. Higher serum total bilirubin levels were protective against CHD risk in women. We conclude that elevated serum GGT confers, additively to BMI, risk of hypertension, MetS, and type 2 diabetes but only mediates adiposity against CHD risk.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in the literature showing that MHR is significantly associated with SXscores. Our results suggest that MHR can be used as a prognostic marker in patients with stable CAD, since it is an easily available and inexpensive test.