The Role of the Monocyte-to-Lymphocyte Ratio in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients with Acute Kidney Injury

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine if acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients with acute ischemic stroke was associated with the monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) assessed upon admission to the neurology intensive care unit (NICU) (AIS). We also looked into the MLR's function in predicting hospital mortality in AIS patients. METHODS: This retrospective analysis included 595 adult patients with AIS who were hospitalized to the NICU of the First Affiliated Hospital of South China between January 2017 and December 2019. Clinical signs and imaging studies were used to diagnose AIS. KDIGO criteria were used to define AKI. The ratio of monocytes to lymphocytes was used to compute MLR, the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes was used to calculate NLR, and the ratio of platelets to lymphocytes was used to calculate PLR. RESULT: 361 males and 234 women between the ages of 66.27 ± 12.05 years took part in the study. The individuals' MLR was 0.4729 ± 0.3461 and their neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was 8.18 ± 5.45. There were notable disparities in MLR and NLR between the AKI and non-AKI groups (p < 0.001). The link between MLR and AKI development risk was enhanced after adjustment, with respective cutoff values of 0.4581 and 9.26. For the MLR-based prediction of AKI incidence, the areas under the receiver-operating characteristic curves (AUCs) were 0.711 (95% CI: 0.663-0.758). And NLR-based prediction of AKI incidence the AUCs was (95% CI: 0.742-0826). Additionally, MLR was associated with a higher rate of in-hospital mortality (2.825, 95% confidence interval: 1.058, 7.545), whereas NLR was associated with a risk of in-hospital mortality of 1.085. (95 percent CI: 1.022, 1.151). An AUC of 0.745 (95% CI: 0.601-0.889, p = 0.026) was obtained for in-hospital mortality based on the MLR, whereas an AUC of 0.724 (95% CI: 0.531-0.916, p = 0.042) was obtained for in-hospital mortality based on the NLR. CONCLUSION: MLR and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were associated with a higher risk of AKI and in-hospital death in AIS patients.