Correlation of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio with the presence and severity of metabolic syndrome.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the criteria comprising metabolic syndrome (MS) and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), a simple and reliable indicator of inflammation.

METHOD

Seventy patients with MS and 71 age- and sex-matched control participants were included. Patients were classified into 3 groups based on the number of MS criteria: group 1 (with 3 criteria), group 2 (with 4 criteria), and group 3 (with 5 criteria). The NLR was calculated from complete blood count.

RESULTS

Patients with MS had significantly higher NLR compared to the control group. Moreover, the group 3 patients had higher NLR than those in groups 2 and 1 (P = .008 and P = .078, respectively), whereas there was no difference between the patients meeting 3 and 4 MS criteria (P = .320). Besides, NLR increased as the severity of MS increased (r = .586, P < .001). The cutoff level for NLR with optimal sensitivity and specificity was calculated as 1.84. Serum glucose and high-sensitive C-reactive protein level were found to be independent predictors of an NLR value greater than 1.84.

CONCLUSION

The present study indicated a significant correlation between the criteria of MS and inflammation on the basis of NLR. Furthermore, there an increase in NLR as the severity of MS increases.