Systemic Immune-Inflammation Index Is Associated With Increased Urinary Albumin Excretion: A Population-Based Study

Abstract

Background: Systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) is a novel inflammatory marker, and inflammation has been reported to be related with renal damage. We aimed to investigate the possible relationship between SII and albuminuria.

Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among adults with complete data about SII and urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) in 2005-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). SII was calculated as the platelet count × neutrophil count/lymphocyte count. Albuminuria was defined as ACR >30mg/g. Weighted multivariable regression analysis and subgroup analysis were conducted to explore the independent relationship between SII and albuminuria.

Results: A total of 36,463 individuals were included in our analysis; 9.56% participants were categorized as having albuminuria overall and increased with the higher SII tertiles (tertile 1, 7.83%; tertile 2, 8.49%; tertile 3, 12.13%; p for trend <0.0001). Multivariable logistic regression showed that a higher SII level was associated with increased likelihood of albuminuria independently (OR = 1.31; 95% CI, 1.17-1.48, p<0.0001) after full adjustment. Subgroup analysis and interaction test showed that there was no significant dependence of gender, age, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) on this positive association (all p for interaction >0.05).

Conclusions: SII was positively associated with increased urinary albumin excretion in US adults. Further large-scale prospective studies are still needed to analyze the role of SII in albuminuria.

Keywords: NHANES; albuminuria; cross-sectional study; population-based study; systemic immune-inflammation index.