Can additional information be obtained in the diagnosis of heart failure in type 2 diabetics by evaluating the hematological indices

INTRODUCTION: The aim of the present study is to investigate whether hematological indices inflammatory parameters such as neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR) are increased in patients with heart failure (HF) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). It is also to compare them in diabetics without HF to investigate, whether it is important in predicting the presence of HF.
METHODS: The study consisted of four subject’s groups in our center between Octeber 2019 and September 2021. It recorded the laboratory results of 160 subjects of which diabetic patient without HF group (n=40), non-diabetic HF group (n=40), diabetes mellitus (DM)+HF group (n=40), and healthy controls (n=40).
RESULTS: NLR and PLR were significantly higher, while LMR was significantly lower in all patients than controls. DM+HF group has the highest NLR (3.34±1.26), PLR (211.34±91.49), and white blood count (WBC) (9090±4834) among the groups. There was no significant difference in NLR and LMR between DM group and DM+HF group. PLR was significantly lower in non-diabetic HF than DM without HF.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Among these markers, NLR, PLR, and WBC could predict the presence of HF in T2DM. NLR, PLR, and WBC are independently associated with other conventional inflammatory markers as C-reactive protein levels in the early stages of HF in T2DM. Complete blood count and hematological indices can be used as additional information in terms of being non-invasive, faster, easier, and cheap in the evaluation of HF at T2DM.