Monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio in patients with retinal artery occlusion

ABSTRACT
Aim: Retinal artery occlusion (RAO) is one of the most important emergencies of ophthalmologic diseases. Thromboembolism is the main etiological factor in RAO. Monocyte to HDL cholesterol ratio (MHR) is a novel prognostic biomarker in several inflammatory disorders, various cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In this study, it was aimed to investigate MHR in RAO patients.
Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, the record files of subjects who were examined between January 2015 and May 2019 were reviewed. Seventy-six subjects were enrolled in the groups. Thirty-eight patients with RAO were considered as group 1, 38 participants were considered as group 2 (control group). In group 1, 23 patients were classified as central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO), and 15 patients were classified as branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO).
Results: There was no difference in terms of gender and age among the groups (p=0.231 and p=0.685). As well, the groups were similar in terms of cardiovascular diseases, systemic hypertension, and diabetes mellitus (p=0.341, p=0.427, p=0.554, respectively). The mean MHR was higher in group 1 compared to the group 2, significantly (14.9±5.5 vs 7.9±1.9, p<0.001). The area under the curve for MHR was 0.908 in receiver operating characteristics analysis and an MHR of > 9.95 predicted RAO with a specificity of 84.2% and sensitivity of 89.5%. In univariate logistic regression, MHR was found to be an independent predictor of RAO (OR=1,892; 95% CI=1,398-2,561; p<0,001).
Conclusions: MHR has been shown to be a simple, useful and inexpensive predictive biomarker for systemic inflammation and vascular-occlusive diseases. Our study showed that increased MHR was significantly associated with RAO. Also, we have researched the level of MHR in patients with RAO and presented that MHR is higher in both CRAO and BRAO. Therefore, MHR may be a predictive biomarker for the emergence of RAO in risky patients.
Keywords: Monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, central retinal artery occlusion, branch retinal artery occlusion, atherosclerosis, inflammation