Diagnostic accuracy of different blood cells-derived indexes in rheumatoid arthritis: A cross-sectional study.

To evaluate the performance of different blood cells-derived indexes in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte to monocyte ratio, platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and aggregate inflammation systemic index were calculated in 199 consecutive RA patients and 283 sex and age-matched controls (147 healthy donors and 136 patients with other rheumatic diseases). Area under the curve (AUCs), sensitivity and specificity were calculated to evaluate the accuracy of indexes in discriminating between RA and controls. Association between indexes and RA variables was explored by multiple linear regression analyses.Blood cells-derived indexes did not demonstrate good accuracy in differentiating RA from controls with lymphocyte to monocyte ratio, the index with the best diagnostic performance, having 63.6% of sensitivity and 65.3% specificity [AUC (95%CI) = 0.67 (0.62-0.72]. The accuracy of the indexes in differentiating RA from healthy donors was significantly higher than that (AUCs < 0.6 for all comparisons) differentiating RA from rheumatic diseases. In RA, SIRI and aggregate inflammation systemic index showed significant association with C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate.Our results do not support the use of blood cells-derived indexes for the diagnosis of RA, suggesting that they might reflect chronic inflammatory burden in rheumatic diseases rather than, specifically, in RA.

Hematological, biochemical and antioxidant indices variations in regular blood donors among Mediterranean regions.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: One of the most important problems in Mediterranean regions is finding blood donors to overcome the high need of its population. Understanding the health benefits of blood donation frequency will activate more volunteers to donate. The aim of this study variations of hematological and biochemical indices in regular male and female donors from Greece and Italy METHODS: A cross-sectional study consisted of 350 voluntary blood donors (VDs)was conducted in two mediterranean Blood Banks, Greece and Italy. The first one from the General Hospital of Naousa, Greece on samples of 90 regular and 60 first-time blood donors. The second one from AOU Sassari, Sardinia, Italy on convenient samples of 100 first-time samples and 100 regular blood donors. Donors' particulars were obtained from blood bank records. The hematological and biochemical parameters were determined for all donors and Total Antioxidant Status (TAS) only for greek VDs. RESULTS: High frequency blood donation of Greek VDs could be associated with evidence of reduction of body iron stores, reduced oxidative stress and improvement of liver function biomarkers in regular groups. Interestingly, Sardinian regular male VDs presented increased iron stores in compare with the first time VDs. In both Mediterranean populations (Greeks and Italians) the lipid profile of the female regular blood donors has been improved in compare with the first timers. CONCLUSION: Regular blood donation increases antioxidant capacity and affects positively the hematological parameters and biochemical biomarkers in donors. Gender plays an important role in relation to all hematological and biochemical parameters. Further studies in larger population should evaluate the beneficial-effect of blood donation and promote people to donate more frequent.