Neutrophil Lymphocyte Ratio in Multiple Sclerosis Disease Actıvıty

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune, chronic, inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is defined as a marker of disease activity in various diseases. In this study, it was investigated whether NLR would be an indicator of MS disease activity in MS patients using immunomodulatory therapy. METHODS: The study included 49 MS patients and 30 age-matched and gender-matched healthy controls. C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), neutrophil and lymphocyte count, NLR of MS patients in the periods of attack and remission, and those of healthy controls were compared retrospectively. SPSS 22 program was used for data evaluation. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in age and gender between MS patients and the control group. The number of lymphocytes was lower in MS patients compared to the control group (p <0.05). NLR was significantly higher in patients with MS than healthy controls (p <0.001). Sedimentation rate was higher in MS patients than the control group (p <0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between NLR levels of MS patients during attack and remission periods. Sedimentation rate was higher in the MS attack period than in the remission period (p <0.05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: This in study, it was concluded that NLR was not a marker for disease activity in MS patients receiving immunomodulatory therapy. In addition, in our study, it was thought that the increase in NLR in MS patients compared to healthy controls was related to the decrease in lymphocyte counts.

Keywords

• multiple sclerosis
• relapse
• neutrophil lymphocyte ratio.