Association between baseline lipid profile and risk of worsening in patients with myasthenia gravis: A retrospective cohort study

Abstract

Background: Dyslipidemia has been implicated in autoimmunity; however, its association with myasthenia gravis (MG) prognosis is unclear. We aimed to investigate the correlation between baseline lipid profiles and risk of MG worsening. Methods: This 7-year retrospective cohort study conducted at a Chinese hospital included 264 adult patients with MG. Data on baseline lipids, 1-year worsening, and covariates, including demographics, MG characteristics, comorbidities, and treatments were extracted. Results: Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses failed to show a significant association between the risk of 1-year MG worsening and any of the seven blood lipid-related indicators. However, the subsequent non-linear analysis revealed an inflection point in the risk curve of ln[lipoprotein(a)], at 4.06 (58 nmol/L). The lipoprotein(a) levels on the left side of the inflection point presented a positive significant correlation with the risk of MG worsening (relative risk [RR]: 6.06, 95 % confidence interval [CI]: 1.00–38.57), whereas those on the right side of the inflection point demonstrated no significant correlation (RR: 0.86, 95 % CI: 0.55–1.34). Conclusions: Except for lipoprotein(a) levels being associated with worsening of myasthenia gravis, most lipid parameters were not associated with changes in the clinical course and severity of myasthenia gravis.we observed that lower levels of lipoprotein(a) were associated with a better prognosis in the interval 7–58 nml/L, whereas beyond this interval this was not observed, suggesting dyslipidemia may impact MG prognosis. Further studies are required to validate these findings.

Keywords

• Myasthenia gravis
• Dyslipidemia
• Worsening
• Non-linear
• Association