Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Essential hypertension is an important health condition responsible for conditions such as heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease. Traditional risk factors and their control are important for reducing mortality. Inflammation caused by organ damage plays a role in the undesirable outcomes of hypertension. Biomarkers, such as the systemic immune-inflammatory index (SII), are predictors, but their relationship with risk factors is poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the correlation between the SII and risk factors in patients with hypertension. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 in Bahia with hypertensive patients from an outpatient clinic. We collected demographic and clinical data such as age, body mass index, and the following biomarkers: low-density lipoprotein level, glomerular filtration rate, interleukin 6 level, C-reactive protein level, neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), hemogram, creatinine level, urea level, ferritin level, and vitamin D level. RESULTS: A total of 61 patients, most of them black women, participated in the study. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 19%, and there was no prevalence of stroke or heart attacks. According to the Framingham risk index, a large part of the sample presented high and very high risks. The bivariate analysis between SII and NLR was positive. Multivariate analysis showed that age, renal function, and NLR were positively correlated with the SII. The patients' Framingham risk did not correlate with the SII. CONCLUSIONS: Inflammation is important for vascular damage in arterial hypertension caused by increased oxidative stress. We evaluated SII and NLR as indices of correlation with risk factors. The SII is a lowcost tool that can be used to screen for chronic conditions, such as hypertension. In summary, higher SII was positively associated with older age and worse renal function in patients with high-risk hypertension.