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. 2020 Jan 10;39(1):7-12.
doi: 10.2478/jomb-2019-0004.

Can neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio be used as an indicator of inflammation in patients with hyperthyroidism?

Murat Dağdeviren  1 , Tolga Akkan  1 , Dilek Yapar  2 , Serdar Karakaya  2 , Tanyel Dağdeviren  3 , Derun Ertuğrul  1 , Mustafa Altay  1
Affiliations

Can neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio be used as an indicator of inflammation in patients with hyperthyroidism?

Murat Dağdeviren et al. J Med Biochem. .

Abstract
in English, Serbian

Background: In our study, we aimed to evaluate changes in the neutrophil and lymphocyte series and investigate whether the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is indicative of inflammations in patients with hyperthyroidism.

Methods: A total of 161 patients were enrolled, 121 of which had hyperthyroidism (71 Graves' Disease (GD) and 50 non-Graves hyperthyroidism (NGH) patients) and 40 of which were control group members. Retrospectively, patients' neutrophil and lymphocyte counts were taken, and the NLR was calculated.

Results: While the number of neutrophils was significantly lower in the GD group (p = 0.003), there was no significant difference between the NGH and the control group. In the GD group, NLR values were significantly lower than the other two groups (median 1.39 for GD, median 1.84 for NGH and median 1.83 for the control group, p < 0.001). Only three patients in the GD group had neutropenia. There was also a significant negative correlation between free T3 and neutrophil count and NLR in hyperthyroid patients (r = -0.28, p = 0.001 and r = -0.34, p < 0.001, respectively).

Conclusions: In our study, we found that NLR did not in crease in hyperthyroid patients and that this ratio decreased due to the decrease in neutrophil levels in GD. We thus concluded that NLR is not a suitable indicator of hyperthyroidism.

Uvod: Cilj naše studije je bio da procenimo promene u seriji neutrofila i limfocita i istražimo da li je odnos neutrofila/limfocita (NLR) indikativan za upale kod pacijenata sa hipertireoidizmom.

Metode: Ukupno je bio uključen 161 bolesnik, od kojih je 121 imao hipertireoidizam (71 sa Grejvsovom bolešću (GD) i 50 njih sa hipertireoidizmom koji nije u vezi sa Grejvsovom bolešću (NGH)), dok su 40 njih bili članovi kontrolne grupe. Retrospektivno su uzeti broj neutrofila i limfocita pacijenata i izračunat je NLR.

Rezultati: Dok je broj neutrofila bio značajno niži u GD grupi (p = 0,003), nije bilo značajne razlike između NGH i kontrolne grupe. U GD grupi su vrednosti NLR bile značajno niže od ostalih dveju grupa (medijan 1,39 za GD, medijan 1,84 za NGH i medijan 1,83 za kontrolnu grupu, p < 0,001). Samo tri pacijenta u GD grupi su imala neutropeniju. Takođe, postojala je značajna negativna korelacija između slobodnog T3 i broja neutrofila i NLR kod hipertireoidnih pacijenata (r = -0,28, p = 0,001 i r = -0,34, p < 0,001, redom).

Zaključak: U našoj studiji smo otkrili da se NLR nije povećao kod hipertireoidnih pacijenata i da se taj odnos smanjio zbog smanjenja nivoa neutrofila u GD. Tako smo zaključili da NLR nije pogodan pokazatelj hipertireoidizma.

Keywords: hyperthyroidism; lymphocyte; neutrophil; ratio.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors stated that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Correlation between fT3 and NLR.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Correlation between fT3 and neutrophil count.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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