Correlation of Neutrophil and Platelet-to-lymphocyte Ratios with Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

INTRODUCTION

This prospective study was designed to evaluate the utility of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in the assessment of disease activity in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A prospective, analytical, hospital-based study was conducted in which adult patients of RA, alongside healthy controls, were included.

RESULTS

In this study involving 74 patients of RA and 74 healthy controls, statistically significant differences were noted between hematological parameters of both groups. Significant positive correlations were found between NLR and disease activity score 28 (DAS28) ( = 0.84, = 0.001), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) ( = 0.94, = 0.001), and C-reactive protein (CRP) ( = 0.8, = 0.01), and between PLR and DAS28 ( = 0.79, = 0.025) in patients. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of NLR and PLR against disease activity of patients showed area under the curves (AUCs) of 0.92 and 0.89, sensitivity of 91 and 83%, and specificity of 84 and 83%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

NLR and PLR demonstrate significant positive correlations with disease activity in RA, suggesting their potential as reliable indices for assessing disease severity and facilitating early management initiation.