Data from: Lipids, apolipoproteins, and prognosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Objective To determine whether lipids and apolipoproteins predict
prognosis of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in a cohort study
of 99 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients who were diagnosed during
2015-2018 and followed until October 31, 2018, at the Neurology Clinic in
Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. Methods Total
cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein
cholesterol, triglyceride, apolipoprotein A-I, apolipoprotein B, and lipid
ratios were measured at the time of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
diagnosis or shortly thereafter. Death after amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
diagnosis was used as the main outcome. Cox model was used to estimate
hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals of death after amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis diagnosis, after controlling for sex, age at diagnosis,
site of symptoms onset, diagnostic delay, body mass index, Amyotrophic
Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised, and progression rate.
Results One-standard deviation increase of total cholesterol (hazard
ratio, 0.60; 95% confidence interval, 0.41-0.89; P=0.01), low-density
lipoprotein cholesterol (hazard ratio, 0.64; 95% confidence interval,
0.44-0.92; P=0.02), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol/high-density
lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (hazard ratio, 0.65; 95% confidence
interval, 0.46-0.92; P=0.02), apolipoprotein B (hazard ratio, 0.62; 95%
confidence interval, 0.44-0.88; P=0.01), or apolipoprotein
B/apolipoprotein A-I ratio (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval,
0.43-0.86; P<0.01) were all associated with a lower risk of death
after amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis. A dose-response
relationship was also noted when analyzing these biomarkers as categorical
variables. Conclusions Lipids and apolipoproteins are important prognostic
indicators for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and should be monitored at
the diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.