Monocyte/lymphocyte ratio predicts the severity of coronary artery disease: a syntax score assessment

BACKGROUND: We aimed to explore whether monocyte to lymphocyte ratio (MLR) provides predictive value of the lesion severity in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: Five hundred forty-three patients undergoing coronary angiography were analyzed in this retrospective study. Patients with coronary stenosis were divided into three groups on the basis of Syntax score. The control group consisted of patients with normal coronary arteries. MLR was calculated by dividing monocytes count by lymphocytes count obtained from routine blood examination. Multivariate logistic analysis was used to assess risk factors of CAD. Ordinal logistic regression analysis was used to assess the relationship between MLR and the lesion severity of coronary arteries. RESULTS: MLR was found to be an independent risk factor of the presence of CAD (OR: 3.94, 95% CI: 1.20–12.95) and a predictor of the lesion severity (OR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.15–3.66). Besides, MLR was positively correlated with Syntax score(r = 0.437, p < 0.001). In the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis, MLR, with an optimal cut-off value of 0.25, predicted the severe coronary lesion with a sensitivity of 60.26% and specificity of 78.49%. CONCLUSIONS: MLR was an independent risk factor of the presence of CAD, and a predictor of the lesion severity. Compared to neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), MLR has better performance to reflect the severity of coronary lesion.