Isocitrate dehydrogenase I mutation is associated with reduced levels of inflammation in glioma patients

Background: Glioma patients with mutant isocitrate dehydrogenase have improved survival; this could be in part due to the suppressive effect of mutant IDH on the level of chronic inflammation. This study aimed to prospectively analyze the association of IDH1 mutation status with preoperative levels of blood inflammatory markers: neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), C-reactive protein (CRP), and red cell distribution width (RDW) in gliomas. Patients and methods: Receiver operating characteristic curves for cutoff value determination, various bivariate tests, and survival analyses (Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression) were performed. Results: Patients with mutant IDH1 had reduced levels of NLR (P<0.032) and CRP (P<0.008). Moreover, these patients showed better median overall survival compared to those without IDH1 mutation (P<0.000). In univariate analysis, IDH1 mutation status (P<0.000), NLR (P<0.000), PLR (P<0.008), and CRP (P<0.001) were among the factors associated with survival. By multivariate analysis, IDH1 mutation (P<0.044) and NLR<2.65 (P<0.022) remained independent factors associated with better survival; other independent variables were tumor grade (P<0.000) and location in noneloquent area (P<0.015). Conclusion: The obtained results show that IDH1 mutation is associated with lower levels of chronic inflammation that could account for an improved prognosis in this group of patients.