Inflammatory Biomarkers and Carotid Atherosclerosis: The Predictive Role of the Neutrophil/Albumin Ratio

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Carotid artery stenosis is an inflammatory vascular disease closely linked to atherosclerosis and associated with inflammatory biomarkers. The neutrophil/albumin ratio (NAR) is a novel promising biomarker in assessing cardiovascular disease severity. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between NAR and lesion severity in patients with carotid artery stenosis. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, single-center, comparative study included 625 asymptomatic patients who underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for suspected high-grade carotid artery stenosis between 2012 and 2022. Patients were classified into two groups based on stenosis severity: critical carotid artery stenosis (≥70% stenosis) and non-critical carotid artery stenosis (Results: Severe carotid artery stenosis was detected in 191 of the patients who underwent DSA. Individuals in the critical carotid artery stenosis group were older and had a higher prevalence of diabetes mellitus and hypertension (51 (45–57) vs. 60 (54–68), p p = 0.025; 193 vs. 104, respectively, p = 0.021), as well as higher neutrophil counts (4.3 (3.2–6.2) vs. 8.1 (4.9–12.5), p p p = 0.005) and CAR (0.9 (0.5–1.9) vs. 1.6 (0.8–2.1), p p p Conclusions: NAR, which can be easily measured through a simple blood test, demonstrated moderate sensitivity and specificity in predicting critical carotid artery stenosis, suggesting its potential role as a supportive marker in clinical risk assessment.

Keywords

• critical carotid artery stenosis
• neutrophil/albumin ratio
• atherosclerosis
• biomarker