Analysis on predictive value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in rheumatoid arthritis / 国际检验医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the predictive value of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by using the retrospectively analysis method .Methods The blood cell differential counting in 150 patients with RA ,101 patients with non‐RA diseases and 151 individuals undergoing the healthy physical examination were selected in a hospital from January 2014 and February 2015 .Blood cells classification and count were performed .Then the NLR difference was compared among these three groups .The clinical and laboratory data in the patients with RA were collected and the association between NLR and other in‐flammatory indicators was statistically analyzed .Moreover ,the diagnostic and predictive value of NLR for RA was also analyzed by using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve .Results The NLR level in the RA patients was significantly higher than that in the non‐RA patients with autoimmune disease and the healthy controls .The diagnostic sensitivity of NLR and neutrophil count(NC) for RA was equivalent(62 .4% vs .67 .5% ) ,but NLR had higher diagnostic specificity than NC (85 .5% vs .68 .7% ) . The correlation analysis indicated that NLR revealed a weak but significant correlation with ESR (r=0 .210 ,P=0 .043) and CRP (r=0 .149 ,P=0 .043) respectively .Conclusion NLR has more predictive value for RA than those traditional inflammatory mark‐ers including CRP ,NC and lymphocyte count ,which is expected to serve as a new biomarker for independently predicting the RA in‐flammation severity .