Evaluation of the relationship between blood cell parameters and vascular calcification in dialysis-dependent end-stage renal disease patients

Abstract

Coronary artery calcification is an acceptable tool for cardiovascular risk assessment in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) population. We aimed to identify the association and predictive value of components of blood cell parameters with coronary and thoracic aorta vascular calcification (VC) in ESRD population on dialysis. All ESRD patients receiving hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis aged between 18 and 60 years were included in the study. Exclusion criteria comprised patients with active infection or inflammatory disease, autoimmune disease, congestive heart failure, angina pectoris and/or documented coronary artery disease, thyroid disease, and hepatic dysfunction. Agatston scoring was used for the evaluation of coronary aorta calcification (CAC) score (CACS) and thoracic aorta calcification (TAC) score (TACS). Compared to participants with no VC, those who had VC were statistically significantly older (P <0.001) and had higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) (P = 0.02 and <0.001, respectively). On multivariate logistic regression analysis, increasing age (P = 0.00) and higher PLR (P = 0.04) were associated with an increased likelihood of exhibiting VC (CAC or TAC). There was a positive correlation between CACS and age (rs = 0.495, P = 0.00). A statistically significant positive correlation existed between TACS and age (rs = 0.516, P = 0.00). Similarly, a positive correlation was found between NLR, PLR, and TACS (rs = 0.334, P = 0.001, and rs = 0.438, P = 0.00, respectively). On multivariate linear regression analysis, increased age and red cell distribution width were found to be significant predictors of log(n) TACS. PLR of 135 gave a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 50% for predicting VC. Being a cost-effective and easily available investigation, the utilization of the correlation of NLR and PLR with CAC and TAC appears promising, particularly in the age group of 30–60 years.