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. 2013 Jan;27(1):72-6.
doi: 10.1002/jcla.21564. Epub 2013 Jan 4.

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of disease severity in ulcerative colitis

Mehmet Celikbilek  1 , Serkan Dogan, Omer Ozbakır, Gökmen Zararsız, Hamit Kücük, Sebnem Gürsoy, Alper Yurci, Kadri Güven, Mehmet Yücesoy
Affiliations

Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of disease severity in ulcerative colitis

Mehmet Celikbilek et al. J Clin Lab Anal. 2013 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Blood neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (N/L) ratio is an indicator of the overall inflammatory status of the body, and an alteration in N/L ratio may be found in ulcerative colitis (UC) patients. The aims of this study were to investigate the utility of N/L ratio as a simple and readily available predictor for clinical disease activity in UC.

Methods: Twenty-six patients and 28 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The neutrophil and lymphocyte counts were recorded, and the N/L ratio was calculated from these parameters. The extent of disease classified according to the Montreal classification, clinical disease activity was evaluated using a modified Truelove-Witts severity index, and endoscopic disease activities were classified according to Schroder et al.

Results: The serum N/L ratios of active patients were significantly higher than those of inactive UC and controls (P < 0.001). The optimum N/L ratio cut-off point for active UC was 2.47. There was no significant difference between inflammation parameters, disease extension, and disease activity.

Conclusion: Our results demonstrate that N/L ratio is higher in patients with active UC compared with controls and UC patients in remission and a cut-off value of 2.47 can be used to identify patients with active ulcerative colitis.

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Conflict of interest statement

None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Box‐plots to display the variation of serum N, L, and N/L ratio values between control and UC patients.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Comparison of ROC curves among WBC, CRP, sedimentation, and N/L ratio variables. AUC values were 0.52(0.36–0.68), 0.72(0.55–0.85), 0.64(0.48–0.79), 0.59(0.42–0.74), respectively, and there was not any significant pair wise difference for AUC values (P > 0.05). (b) Determination of the optimal cut‐off value for N/L ratio.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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