Abstract

BackgroundThe neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have recently emerged as potential indicators of systemic inflammation in chronic rheumatic diseases such as polymyalgia rheumatica, rheumatoid arthritis, and spondyloarthritis.ObjectivesTo investigate the value of NLR and PLR as inflammatory markers in juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and to explore possible associations with disease activity parameters.MethodsWe enrolled 29 patients with JIA according to International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR) criteria. Tender joint count (TJC), swollen joint count (SJC) and laboratory tests were retrospectively collected from medical records. Disease activity was also assessed by the Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score (JADAS). All data were checked for normality by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The Spearman correlation was used for data analysis and p values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.ResultsA total of 54 consultations (29 at baseline and 25 at the last follow-up consultations) of 29 patients were included in our study. The mean age was 13.1±4.2 years [4-21] and the sex ratio of males to females was 1.07. JIA subtypes were: enthesis-related arthritis (n=12), polyarthritis (n=7), oligoarthritis (n=6), undifferentiated (n=3) and psoriatic arthritis (n=1). At baseline 51,73% of the patients were not under treatment, 34.49% were under non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and 13.8% under methotrexate (MTX). At the last follow-up consultation 41.38% of the patients were under MTX, 34.49% under NSAIDS and 10.35% under Etanercept. At baseline, NLR1 was positively correlated with TJC1 (p=0.022, r=0.424) and SJC1 (p=0.014, r=0.453) but not with C-reactive protein CRP1 (p=0.512) neither erythrocyte sedimentation rate ESR1 (0.096) nor disease activity scores JADAS-CRP1 (p=0.063) and JADAS-ESR1 (p=0.091). PLR1 was positively correlated with SJC1 (p=0.004, r=0.521) and both disease activity scores JADAS-CRP1 (p=0.026, r=0.462) and JADAS-ESR1 (p=0.052, r=0.364). At the follow-up consultations only PLR2 was positively correlated to CRP2 (p=0.045, r=0.404). No correlation was noted between NLR2 and PLR2 and JADAS-CRP2 (p=0.281, p=0.063) and JADAS-ESR2 (p=0.324, p=0.082).ConclusionOur study suggests that NLR and PLR may be used as assessment tools of disease activity in patients with JIA. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these results and to explore the value of these ratios in the follow-up and the prognosis of JIA.Disclosure of InterestsNone declared

Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call