Contrasting the relationship of serum uric acid/albumin ratio on quantitative flow ratio with other multiple composite parameters in patients with suspected coronary artery disease

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between quantitative coronary flow reserve (CFR) and the blood uric acid/albumin ratio, as well as multiple clinical parameters, in order to assess the severity of coronary artery functional stenosis. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 257 suspected coronary artery disease patients who underwent coronary angiography (CAG) and quantitative flow ratio (QFR) examinations in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University in Jingzhou City, China, between September 2022 and March 2023. The study subjects were divided into two groups based on their QFR values: QFR ≤ 0.80 group and QFR > 0.80 group. Correlation of uric acid-to-albumin ratio (UAR), high-density lipoprotein ratio (MHR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), Systemic Inflammation Response Index (SIRI), and Aggregate Index of Systemic Inflammation (AISI) with coronary artery QFR was analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression models, considering them as both continuous and binary variables. Results: The QFR ≤ 0.80 group consisted of 83 patients, while the QFR > 0.80 group included 174 patients. Significant differences were observed between the QFR ≤ 0.80 and QFR > 0.80 groups in the following parameters: UAR (9.19 ± 2.47 vs 7.61 ± 1.91; p < 0.001), MHR (0.46 ± 0.19 vs 0.37 ± 0.16, p < 0.001), SII (674.98 ± 332.30 vs 571.43 ± 255.82; p = 0.006), SIRI (1.53 ± 0.83 vs 1.29 ± 1.10; p = 0.047), and AISI (340.22 ± 242.10 vs 243.97 ± 151.97; p < 0.001). ROC curve analysis revealed an area under the curve of 0.701 (CI: 0.633–0.770; p < 0.001) for UAR. In the univariate analysis, when treated as binary variables, high levels of UAR, MHR, SII, SIRI, and AISI were found to be significantly associated with the risk of QFR ≤ 0.80 (all P < 0.05). However, in the multivariate regression analysis, only high levels of UAR and AISI remained significantly associated with QFR ≤ 0.80 (all P < 0.05). When treated as continuous variables, the univariate analysis indicated that UAR (OR: 1.412, CI: 1.231–1.620, p < 0.001), e^MHR (OR: 1.394, CI: 1.151–1.687, p < 0.001), lnSII (OR: 1.001, CI: 1.000–1.002, p = 0.008), and lnAISI (OR: 2.695, CI: 1.539–4.719, p = 0.001) were significantly associated with QFR ≤ 0.80. In the multivariate analysis, UAR (OR: 1.373, CI: 1.187–1.587, p < 0.001) and AISI (OR: 2.217, CI: 1.309–3.757, p < 0.001) remained significantly associated with QFR ≤ 0.80. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate a significant association between UAR and AISI with QFR ≤ 0.80, suggesting its potential role in predicting the extent of functional coronary artery stenosis in patients with CAD. Additionally, AIRI, identified as an inflammatory marker in the complete blood count, was found to exert influence on the severity of coronary artery physiology.