NPPB and idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy: In accordance with our data, Avci et al. found that NLR was positively associated with NYHA functional class and plasma BNP and negatively with left ventricular ejection fraction, the most commonly used clinical measure of left ventricular systolic function and a good indicator of cardiac remodeling [23], and NLR was an independent predictor of increased levels of plasma BNP in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy [24].