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Abstract Details
AST to Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) is an easy-to-use predictor score for cardiovascular risk in metabolic subjects
Carlo De Matteis1, Marica Cariello1, Giusi Graziano1, Stefano Battaglia23, Patrizia Suppressa2, Giuseppina Piazzolla2, Carlo Sabbà2, Antonio Moschetta45
Author information
1INBB, National Institute for Biostructures and Biosystems, Viale delle Medaglie d'Oro 305, 00136, Rome, Italy.
2Clinica Medica "Cesare Frugoni", Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124, Bari, Italy.
3Depatment of Tissues and Organs Transplantation and Cellular Therapies, "Aldo Moro" University of Bari, Bari, Italy.
4INBB, National Institute for Biostructures and Biosystems, Viale delle Medaglie d'Oro 305, 00136, Rome, Italy. antonio.moschetta@uniba.it.
5Clinica Medica "Cesare Frugoni", Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, Aldo Moro University of Bari, Piazza Giulio Cesare 11, 70124, Bari, Italy. antonio.moschetta@uniba.it.
Abstract
Visceral obesity is characterized by a low-grade inflammatory systemic state that contributes to the genesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), frequently associated with liver fibrosis. Non-invasive serum markers have recently emerged as reliable, easy-to-use scores to predict liver fibrosis. NAFLD is often linked to metabolic and cardiovascular risk. Thus, in this cross-sectional study, we investigated in a population of 1225 subjects if AST to Platelet Ratio Index (APRI), one of the non-invasive liver fibrosis serum markers, can predict cardiovascular risk (CVR). APRI has been previously validated as an efficient score to predict liver fibrosis in viral hepatitis patients with a cut-off of 0.5 for fibrosis and 1.5 for cirrhosis. Our study showed that APRI significantly correlates with CVR and determines, when elevated, a significant increase in CVR for both genders, especially females. This spike in CVR, observed when APRI is elevated, is relatively high in patients in the age of 51-65 years, but it is significantly higher in younger and premenopausal women, approaching risk values usually typical of men at the same age. Taken together, our data highlighted the role of APRI as a reliable predictor easy-to-use score for CVR in metabolic patients.