The Clinical significance of Peripheral Blood-related Inflammatory Markers in patients with AECOPD

Abstract

Objective

Peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers, including systemic immune inflammation index (SII), inflammatory response index (SIRI), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), have received increasing clinical attention over the years. This study aims to investigate the clinical significance of peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). We hope that this study will provide guidance for clinical individualized treatment and management of AECOPD patients.

Methods

A total of 254 patients with AECOPD admitted between January 2021 and December 2022 were enrolled in this study and categorized into mild and moderate-to-severe groups. Univariate analysis, Spearman correlation analysis, and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) were performed to study the clinical value of peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers. Then, the relationship between the peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers and the risk of readmission owing to acute exacerbation during the first year after discharge was further studied through survival analysis and multivariate Cox regression.

Results

The levels of peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers in patients with moderate-to-severe AECOPD were significantly higher than patients in the mild group, and the levels of peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers are positively correlated with the severity of disease. The highest diagnostic accuracy for moderate-to-severe AECOPD was achieved by combining five indexes, with a cut-off value of 0.38 and an AUC of 0.837 (95 % CI: 0.789–0.885). Higher levels of peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers may indicate a higher risk of readmission within one year of hospital discharge in patients with AECOPD, and SII (HR = 3.478, P < 0.001) was an independent risk factor. Besides, higher levels of peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers also suggest impaired pulmonary ventilation function and enlarged right ventricular diameter.

Conclusions

Peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers (SII, SIRI, NLR, PLR, MLR) can serve as a reference for identifying patients with moderate-to-severe AECOPD. Patients with higher levels of peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers are more susceptible to experiencing acute exacerbation and readmission events within one year after hospital discharge. Peripheral blood-related inflammatory markers can assist clinicians in evaluating the condition and predicting the risk of readmission in patients with AECOPD more scientifically and objectively.