Abstract
BACKGROUND: New hematological parameters related to HDL-C can provide insights into inflammatory status and lipid metabolism. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between several cardiometabolic indices such as the neutrophil to HDL-C ratio (NHR), neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte to HDL-C ratio (LHR), TG-HDL ratio, and TyG index with BMI in Argentinean Indigenous schoolchildren from three impoverished communities. METHODS: Age, sex, body mass index (BMI), triglycerides (TG), HDL-C, and CBC were evaluated in a cross-sectional study. Additionally, NHR, NLR, LHR, the TG/HDL ratio, and the TyG index were calculated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to explore the associations between these indices and BMI. A ROC curve was used to determine the most effective index for identifying high BMI. RESULTS: 306 schoolchildren (54.2 % female) aged 9.6 ± 2.8 years were evaluated. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was 17.3 % (n = 52). There were significant univariate correlations between BMI and the following variables: age (r = 0.244), HDL-C (r = -0.16), NHR (r = 0.27), TG-HDL -C(r = 0.23), and NLR (r = 0.23). The ROC curve demonstrated that NHR had a better discriminative performance for identifying high BMI (0.70; 95 % CI: 0.64-0.75; p < 0.01), outperforming all other indices, including NLR and HDL-C alone. Multiple linear regression analysis confirmed that NHR was significantly associated with BMI adjusted for age, sex, blood pressure, and location. (coeff. 0.24). CONCLUSION: This study found that NHR demonstrated better discriminative performance compared with other markers for identifying high body weight in Argentinean Indigenous children from impoverished communities.