AbstractObjectives: It has been well documented that the
platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and the neutrophil to
lymphocyte ratio (NLR) are associated with outcomes for
patients with gastric cancer, non-small cell lung cancer
and acute heart failure. Inflammation may be the hidden
factor that explains the correlation between NLP, PLR, and
these diseases. However, to date, the data concerning NLR,
PLR, and its association with inflammation are lacking
in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), thus, our aim
to discuss whether NLR and PLR are associated with RA.
Methods: Patients with RA and healthy individuals
were included according to the determined criteria,
and laboratory indicators were measured.
Results: PLR and NLR were significantly higher in RA
patients compared with healthy controls (3.20±2.06
vs. 1.56±0.47, P<0.01; 192.85±101.78 vs. 103.49±28.68,
P<0.01). When leukocytes, neutrophil percentage, neutrophil,
lymphocyte, platelet, C-reactive protein (CRP),
erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and rheumatoid
factor (RF) were considered as confounders (crude
model), our results indicated that ESR and RF were correlated
to RA. Of note, ESR, RF, and PLR were associated
with RA after further adjustment based on crude model
for PLR and NLR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC)
curves analysis showed that PLR values higher than >115.7 evaluated RA with a sensitivity of 82.5%, a specificity
of 74.8% and area under the curve ( AUC ) of 0.847.
Conclusions:Our results suggest that PLR is associated
with RA, and PLR may be an underlying indicator indicating
the chronic subclinical inflammation in patients
with RA.
The value of the neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio and platelet‐to‐lymphocyte ratio as complementary diagnostic tools in the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis: A multicenter retrospective study