Cholesterol--a marker of nutritional status in mild to moderate heart failure.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the association between serum cholesterol and nutritional status in patients with stable mild to moderate chronic heart failure (CHF).


BACKGROUND
Hypercholesterolemia is a well-established risk factor for mortality and morbidity in coronary heart disease. In an apparent paradox, lower serum cholesterol has been associated with worse prognosis in CHF. Pre-albumin is the preferred marker for undernutrition in chronic diseases.


METHODS
We evaluated 92 CHF patients, mean age 68 years, mean body mass index 27 kg/m(2); 44 with ischemic etiology; 41 in New York Heart Association class I. Patients were included after a period of at least 2 months of clinical stability. Spearman's correlation coefficient between serum cholesterol and pre-albumin, both in the whole sample and stratifying by the use of statins was calculated.


RESULTS
Median (interquartile range) cholesterol level was 174 (142-214) mg/dl and median pre-albumin level was 31 (25-37) mg/dl. Overall, there was a moderately strong and statistically significant positive correlation between pre-albumin and serum cholesterol (Rho=0.57, p<0.001). Among the 20 patients not on statin the correlation coefficient was 0.84 (p<0.001), while among the 72 patients under a statin the correlation was 0.49 (p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that in stable mild to moderate CHF patients, cholesterol levels are closely related with nutritional status irrespective of therapy with a statin.
Araújo
José Paulo
JP
Serviço de Medicina Interna - Hospital S. João, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Unidade I&D Cardiovascular do Porto, Portugal. pauloaraujo@netc.pt
Friões
Fernando
F
Azevedo
Ana
A
Lourenço
Patrícia
P
Rocha-Gonçalves
Francisco
F
Ferreira
António
A
Bettencourt
Paulo
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011228:Prealbumin / Q000378:metabolism
D015415:Biomarkers; D019161:Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors; D011228:Prealbumin; D002784:Cholesterol