Aim: Malnutrition has been identified to be an independent predictor of morbidity and mortality in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). However, the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this pathway remain unclear.
Methods: Nutritional screening was performed using the controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score, which was calculated using the serum albumin and total cholesterol levels and lymphocyte number, in 114 CHF patients with a mean left ventricular ejection fraction of 26.6%±6.4%. The carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) is correlated with carotid atherosclerosis and is a significant predictor of future cardiovascular events. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated, and the production of monocyte tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α was measured and expressed as mean±SD (pg/mL/10⁶ PBMCs).
Results: A multivariate linear regression analysis showed that the production of monocyte TNF-α (β coefficient=0.434, p＜0.001) and mean CIMT (β coefficient=0.204, p=0.006) were independent determinants of the CONUT score. During a median follow-up of 67.5 months, 45 patients experienced cardiac events, including 16 cardiac deaths and 29 readmissions for worsening CHF. A multivariate Cox hazard analysis demonstrated that a monocyte TNF-α level of ≥4.1 pg/mL/10⁶ PBMCs (hazard ratio (HR), 14.10; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.55–77.92; p=0.002) and CONUT score of ≥3 (HR, 11.97; 95% CI, 2.21–64.67; p=0.004) were independently associated with the incidence of cardiac events.
Conclusions: These data indicate that a poor nutritional status as assessed using the CONUT score and atherosclerosis as indicated by CIMT is significantly associated with inflammation and predicts poor outcomes in patients with CHF.