Are Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio and Platelet/Lymphocyte Ratio Predictors for Severity of Preeclampsia?

Abstract

Background: We aimed to assess neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) levels in patients with preeclampsia (PE) compared with matched normal pregnant women and evaluate whether there is an association of PE severity with hematological paramaters. Methods: In this study, we recruited 93 women with PE and 94 normal pregnant women matched for both maternal age and gestastional age as controls to assess the clinical, hemodynamic, and neurohormonal status of patients. Results: There were no statistically significant differences between patients with PE and normal pregnancy with regard to the maternal age and gestation at delivery; however, patients with PE exhibited significantly higher blood pressure, proteinuria levels and parity. Maternal age, multiparity status and the complete blood count parameters including hemoglobin (Hg), white blood cell (WBC), platelets, neutrophil/lymphocyte counts, mean platelet volume (MPV), and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were not statistically different between the groups. PLR and NLR levels were comparable between PE and normal pregnancies. Moreover, in subgroup analysis, patients with severe PE had similar NLR but lower PLR levels compared to women with mild PE. Conclusions: PLR was found to be associated with the severity of PE, whereas NLR was not. This finding may be related to cytokine-dependent defective maternal immune activation in PE pathogenesis. In addition, PLR may also be an indirectly available and simple reflector for degree of immune activation in PE. J Clin Gynecol Obstet. 2016;5(1):27-31 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jcgo389w