The Relation Between C-Reactive Protein-Albumin Ratio and Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Psoriasis

Evaluation of the serum C-reactive protein-albumin ratio and its relationship with disease severity IN alopecia areata: A prospective case-control study

BACKGROUND

Alopecia areata (AA) is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease characterized by localized or diffuse non-scarring hair loss. The serum C-reactive protein (CRP)/albumin ratio (CAR) is a novel inflammatory marker and a significant prognostic indicator in several diseases.

AIM

We aimed to explore CAR in AA patients and healthy controls and analyze the possible correlation between CAR and disease severity.

METHOD

The present study was conducted with 65 eligible AA patients and 65 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Disease severity was analyzed based on the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) score. The CAR score was calculated by dividing serum CRP by the albumin content in both patient and healthy control groups.

FINDINGS

56.9% of the patients were male and 43.1% were female, and the mean age was 31.93 ± 9.67. The patient group' mean CAR level (0.42 ± 0.3) was statistically higher than that of the healthy controls (0.07 ± 0.04), (p < 0.05). There were positive correlations between disease severity, CAR (r = 0.65; p < 0.01), and CRP (r = 0.66; p < 0.01), while the correlation between disease severity and albumin was negative (r = -0.56; p < 0.01). In the receiver operating characteristic analysis conducted on disease severity, the area under the curve was 0.16 for albumin, 0.92 for CRP, and 0.95 for CAR. The optimum CAR for AA severity was 0.38 with 87% sensitivity and 92% specificity.

CONCLUSION

In the study, we determined that the CAR was higher in AA patients when compared to the control group, and the elevation was associated with disease severity. The present study findings demonstrated that alopecia areata was associated with systemic inflammation, and CAR is a useful inflammatory marker in AA patients.

Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index and C-Reactive Protein/Albumin Ratio Could Predict Acute Stent Thrombosis and High SYNTAX Score in Acute Coronary Syndrome

Acute stent thrombosis (AST) is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. The main aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic value of the systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and C-reactive protein (CRP) to albumin ratio (CAR) in predicting AST and high SYNTAX score in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The criteria of the Academic Research Consortium were used to determine definite stent thrombosis. A total of 2077 consecutive patients with ACS undergoing PCI were retrospectively enrolled. Platelet, white blood cell and neutrophil counts, as well as SII, CRP, CAR, and peak cardiac troponin I (cTnI) values were significantly higher, whereas the lymphocyte count and albumin values were significantly lower in the AST (+) group compared with the AST (-) group (P < .05). SYNTAX score showed significant positive correlations with SII (r = .429, P < .001) and CRP (r = .402, P < .001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that SII and CAR, as well as age, diabetes mellitus, stent length, and peak cTnI are independent predictors of AST and high SYNTAX score. In conclusion, the SII and CAR are simple, relatively cheap, and reliable inflammatory biomarkers that can predict AST and high SYNTAX scores in ACS.