Association of Red Blood Cell Distribution Width and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio with Calcification and Cardiovascular Markers in Chronic Kidney Disease
Stefanos Roumeliotis, Ioannis Neofytou, Cecile Maassen, Petra Lux, Konstantia Kantartzi, Evangelos Papachristou, Leon J. Schurgers, Vassilios Liakopoulos
Abstract
We aimed to investigate the association between Red Blood Cell Distribution Width (RDW) and Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR), simple, rapidly assessed markers from the complete blood count with vascular calcification (VC)/stiffness and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Dephosphorylated, uncarboxylated matrix Gla-protein (dp-ucMGP), and central/peripheral hemodynamics’ parameters were measured in 158 CKD patients, including Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis. Spearman’s rho analysis showed that RDW correlated with C-reactive protein (CRP) (r = 0.29, p < 0.001), dp-ucMGP (r = 0.43, p = < 0.0001), central diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (r = −0.19, p = 0.02), and albuminuria (r = −0.17, p = 0.03). NLR correlated with the duration of CVD (r = 0.32, p < 0.001), CRP (r = 0.27, p = 0.01), dp-ucMGP (r = 0.43, p < 0.0001), central DBP (r = −0.32, p < 0.0001) and eGFR (r = −0.25, p = 0.04). In multiple regression models, circulating dp-ucMGP was an independent predictor of RDW (β = 0.001, p = 0.001) and NLR (β = 0.002, p = 0.002). In CKD patients, RDW and NLR are associated with traditional and novel markers of VC and CVD.