Relationship between monocyte to HDL cholesterol ratio and concomitant cardiovascular disease in Chinese Han patients with obstructive sleep apnea

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is attributed to chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH) induced inflammation. As a new inflammatory biomarker of CVD, monocyte to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (MHR) has received little attention in OSA studies to date. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the correlation between MHR and concomitant CVD in Chinese Han patients with OSA. Methods: A total of 657 Chinese Han subjects (169 controls, 145 mild, 94 moderate, and 249 severe OSA) of both genders were enrolled in this cross-sectional study, with an average BMI of 32.35±6.56 kg/m2. The relationship between MHR and concomitant CVD in OSA patients was analyzed. Results: The level of MHR was correlated positively with apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), while negatively with lowest SpO2 (P<0.01). Moreover, the MHR values were higher in OSA patients with CVD than those without CVD (17.64±7.16 vs. 12.73±5.06, P<0.001). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that MHR is an independent predictor of CVD (OR =1.190, P<0.001). The ROC analysis indicated that the best cut-off value of MHR for predicting CVD in OSA patients was 15.364 (sensitivity 65.0%, specificity 74.4%), while its cutoff value for identifying CVD in severe OSA patients was 15.362 (sensitivity 67.3%, specificity 80.1%). Conclusions: MHR is strongly correlated with the severity of OSA and the occurrence of CVD in OSA patients. As an easy and available test, MHR is expected to be a promising biomarker candidate in predicting CVD in Chinese Han patients with OSA.