Monocyte to HDL cholesterol ratio predicts obesity-associated cardiac dysfunction

As the prevalence of obesity increases dramatically, obesity-associated cardiac dysfunction constitutes a considerable challenge to human health. This study aimed to identify more useful lipid/inflammatory markers to predict the risk of obesity-associated cardiac dysfunction. By retrospectively analyzing the clinical characteristics of 5648 cardiac disease patients, we found that both the plasma level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and the blood monocyte count were significantly associated with impairment of the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Univariate and multivariate regression analyses revealed that the monocyte to HDL-C ratio (MHR) was a more powerful predictor of the risk of LVEF decline than either HDL-C or monocyte alone. Mediation analysis further revealed a mediating effect of a high MHR on the decline in obesity-associated cardiac systolic function. Collectively, our results demonstrate a superior role of MHR in predicting the risk of an obesity-associated decline in cardiac systolic function among routine metabolic/inflammatory markers.