The relationship between serum vitamin D levels and hematological inflammatory indices in patients with heart failure

Abstract

Objectives: Recent studies have suggested that chronic systemic inflammation increases the risk of development and progression of heart failure (HF). Vitamin D may contribute to the pathogenesis of HF by modulating inflammatory pathways. Changes in brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels are critical for the diagnosis and assessment of HF severity. We aimed to investigate the association between serum vitamin D levels, BNP, and novel hematological systemic inflammation indices in chronic heart failure (CHF) patients. Methods: In this retrospective study, we report data from 187 participants admitted to the outpatient clinic, with 85 CHF and 102 without CHF (control group). Vitamin D, BNP, and complete blood cell samples were analyzed. Novel hematological systemic inflammation indices—the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII; neutrophil × platelet / lymphocyte), the systemic inflammation response index (SIRI; neutrophil count × monocyte/lymphocyte count), the pan-immune-inflammation value (PIV; neutrophil count × platelet count × monocyte count)/lymphocyte count, monocyte- to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR)—were calculated. Results: Binomial logistic regression showed that only MLR was significantly associated with CHF (P < 0.001). A weak, negative, and statistically significant correlation was found between BNP and vitamin D (r=-0.185, p=0.011) levels. There was a weak negative correlation between vitamin D and PLR (r=-0.196, p=0.007), PIV (r=-0.145, p=0.048), and SIRI (r=-0.156, p=0.033). Conclusion: An independent association between systemic hematological inflammatory indicators and vitamin D with the severity of CHF expressed by elevated BNP levels was revealed.