Blood Marker for Inflammation Linked to AAV

C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) was found to be significantly associated with increased disease activity among patients with antineutrophilic cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV), according to a new study published in the Mediterranean Journal of Rheumatology.

CAR has already been established as “an independent prognostic marker in malignancy, Crohn’s disease, critically ill patients and vasculitides,” according to the authors. “In this study, we aimed to investigate CAR and its relationship with disease activity and damage in prevalent ANCA vasculitis patients.”

The investigators used the Birmingham vasculitis score (BVAS) on 51 patients with AAV and 42 healthy controls to assess vasculitis activity and vasculitis damage index (VDI). The median age for the participants was 55 years, and the median disease duration was 34 months.

Roughly 40% of the participants reported a BVAS score equal to or greater than 5. The median VDI for all patients was 2.

Until now, there was no defined cut-off serum CAR level to predict disease activity among AAV patients. However, the investigators found that patients with CAR equal to or higher than 0.98 were more likely to have a higher BVAS.

Patients who had a CAR equal to or more than 0.98 had a “higher median BVAS score (5 vs 2) and a higher median VDI score (4 vs 2) than those with a CAR below the cutoff.”

“Close monitoring, early recognition, and timely treatment of disease activity may limit patient morbidity and mortality,” the authors advised.

Reference:
Atas DB, Sahin GK, Şengül Ş et al. C-reactive protein to albumin ratio is associated with disease activity in anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody associated vasculitis. Mediterr J Rheumatol. 2023;34(1):71-77. DOI: 10.31138/mjr.34.1.71.