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

Abstract

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.

Keywords: inflammation; metabolic syndrome; neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio.