Monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio and gastrointestinal disorder-related hospitalization in patients on maintenance hemodialysis.

Introduction: To explore the association between monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) and the risk of hospitalization due to gastrointestinal (GI) disorder in hemodialysis (HD) patients.

Methods: In this multicenter, observational cohort study, 1626 patients were enrolled in 2019 and followed up to 2 years. Cox regression models were performed to estimate the association of MLR with GI disorder-related hospitalization risk. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were conducted to evaluate the cutoff value of MLR in identifying GI disorder-related hospitalization.

Results: During a median follow-up of 24 months, GI disorder-related hospitalization occurred in 107 patients. Higher MLR was independently associated with greater risks of GI disorder-related hospitalization. Furthermore, a cut-off value of 0.42 differentiated patients with GI disorder-related hospitalization from those without GI involvement.

Conclusion: MLR was associated with the occurrence of GI disorder-related hospitalization in HD patients. The blood MLR could be monitored as a useful marker to predict GI disorder-related hospitalization.