Nutritional status affects inflammatory responses and exacerbates the severity of pulmonary tuberculosis.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to comprehensively assess the impact of nutritional status and inflammatory response on the severity of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).

METHODS: Hospitalized patients with active PTB were included. Severe PTB was defined as active PTB with ≥3 infected lobes on chest imaging. Nutritional status was determined by the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) and prognostic nutritional index (PNI). Inflammatory markers included monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and systemic inflammatory response index (SII). Multivariate logistic regression, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, random forest, and mediation analysis were leveraged to clarify the links of nutritional status and inflammatory response with PTB severity.

RESULTS: 337 patients were included. In the fully-adjusted logistic regression model, GNRI (OR: 0.93; 95%CI: 0.90-0.96, P<0.001) and PNI (OR: 0.90; 95%CI; 0.86-0.95, P<0.001) were independent protective factors for severe PTB, whereas NLR (OR: 1.07; 95%CI: 1.01-1.16, P<0.05) and MLR (OR: 3.11; 95%CI: 1.16-9.71, P<0.05) were independent risk factors. No association between SII and severe PTB was found (P>0.05). GNRI mediated 51.64% and 60.58% of the effect of NLR and MLR on PTB, respectively. PNI mediated 70.15% and 76.70% of the effect of NLR and MLR on PTB, respectively. When NLR, MLR, GNRI, and PNI were integrated with traditional clinical indexes, the AUC increased to 0.723 (95% CI: 0.668-0.777).

CONCLUSION: Nutrition and inflammatory response are significantly associated with PTB severity, and nutritional status mediates the effect of inflammatory response on PTB severity.