Table 3.

Explorative mediation analysis of the direct and indirect effects of glucose on mortality; the average causal mediation effect (ACME) and the average direct effect (ADE) represent the estimated averages of the mediation and direct effects, respectively

Mediator	ACME (95% CI)	P	ADE (95% CI)	P
WBC (× 103/μL)	− 5.3 (− 14.8 to 0.10)	0.054	− 45.7 (− 90.4 to − 15.9)	0.001
Absolute neutrophil count (× 103/μL)	− 10.0 (− 24.6 to − 1.6)	0.007	− 31.8 (− 63.3 to − 6.5)	0.011
Absolute lymphocyte count (× 103/μL)	− 8.6 (− 36.1 to 9.8)	0.4	− 50.5 (− 101.0 to − 17.4)	0.003
Absolute monocyte count (× 103/μL)	0.0 (− 1.9 to 2)	1	− 37.6 (− 69.1 to − 15.0)	0.001
Absolute eosinophil count (× 103/μL)	− 23.1 (− 98.3 to 2.4)	0.1	− 50.0 (− 123.4 to − 15.7)	0.004
Absolute basophil count (× 103/μL)	0.7 (− 3.2 to 5.8)	0.8	− 39.5 (− 74.3 to − 15.6)	< 0.001
NLR	− 4.1 (− 13.3 to 2.1)	0.2	− 39.0 (− 73.7 to − 13.7)	0.001
PLT (× 103/μL)	0.1 (− 4.7 to 5.3)	1	− 48.1 (− 91.3 to − 19.1)	< 0.001
D–Dimer (ng/mL)	− 0.3 (− 5.8 to 4.3)	0.9	− 41.5 (− 97.5 to − 4.7)	0.022
Fibrinogen (mg/dL)	− 1.2 (− 6.2 to 2.2)	0.5	− 40.0 (− 81.3 to − 12.3)	0.002
CRP (mg/L)	− 9.4 (− 21.6 to − 0.9)	0.029	− 40.4 (− 74.6 to − 16.2)	< 0.001
PCT (ng/mL)	− 1.8 (− 4.7 to 0.0)	0.042	− 27.0 (− 53.0 to − 6.3)	0.009
Ferritin (μg/L)	− 1.6 (− 6.6 to 1.3)	0.3	− 31.3 (− 57.5 to − 12.0)	< 0.001
LDH (U/L)	− 5.8 (− 14.7 to 0.9)	0.09	− 30.6 (− 62.3 to − 8.3)	0.003
Creatinine (mg/dL)	− 0.3 (− 3.2 to 2.3)	0.8	− 43.0 (− 80.8 to − 16.5)	< 0.001
eGFR–CDK-EPI (ml/min × 1.73 m2)	1.0 (− 4.1 to 6.9)	0.7	− 48.5 (− 94.3 to − 18.3)	< 0.001

CI confidence interval, P p-value of the test for the average indirect and direct effects, WBC White Blood Cell Count, NLR Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio, PLT Platelet Count, CRP C-Reactive Protein, PCT Procalcitonin, LDH Lactate Dehydrogenase, eGFR Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate, CDK-EPI Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology Collaboration