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Association between the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and mild cognitive impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes

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Abstract

Aim

Evidence indicates that type 2 diabetes (T2D) is associated with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Inflammation is a recognized sign of many neurodegenerative diseases. The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a novel and inexpensive marker of inflammation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the NLR and MCI in patients with T2D.

Methods

The sample for this study comprised 787 patients with T2D, including 411 patients with normal cognitive function and 376 patients with MCI. Blood biochemical parameters and routine blood indicators were determined by an automatic analyzer. The NLR was calculated as the neutrophil count divided by the lymphocyte count.

Results

Compared with the control group, the MCI group was older and had a higher NLR but a lower education level and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score (p < 0.05). Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression analyses confirmed that the MoCA score was negatively associated with the NLR (p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the NLR was an independent risk factor for MCI in patients with T2D (p < 0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, the risk of MCI for those in the third tertile of the NLR was 2.907 times higher than that of those in the first tertile of the NLR (OR = 2.907, 95%CI = 1.978–4.272, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

An elevated NLR is associated with MCI in patients with T2D.

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Data availability

The data can be available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the patients and their families for their cooperation.

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Fund of Scientific Research Innovation of the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University [Grant number 2020 M27, China].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology, First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin, 150001, China

    Zi-Wei Yu, Ying Wang, Xin Li, Xue-Wei Tong, Yi-Tong Zhang & Xin-Yuan Gao

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  1. Zi-Wei Yu
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  2. Ying Wang
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  3. Xin Li
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Contributions

Z-WY collected the data and drafted the manuscript; YW collected the data; X-WT and Y-TZ collected the relevant literature; X-YG and XL revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xin-Yuan Gao.

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All authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University.

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Yu, ZW., Wang, Y., Li, X. et al. Association between the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and mild cognitive impairment in patients with type 2 diabetes. Aging Clin Exp Res 35, 1339–1345 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-023-02420-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-023-02420-z

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