Investigation of monocyte HDL ratio as an indicator of inflammation and complete blood count parameters in patients with acne vulgaris.

Abstract

Acne vulgaris is a common inflammatory skin disease that affects the pilosebaceous unit. Increased sebum production, hyperkeratosis in follicular infundibulum, inflammation and Propionibacterium acnes are among aetiological factors. Complete blood count (CBC) parameters are used as diagnosis biomarkers for many diseases related with inflammatory processes. Although monocyte/HDL ratio (MHR) has been defined as an inflammatory marker recently, we did not come across any studies about MHR in acne, which is known to be an inflammatory disease. The present study was conducted to compare CBC parameters and MHR levels in acne vulgaris patients and healthy controls (HCs). Sixty-five acne vulgaris patients followed in our clinic between January 2018 and December 2019 and 36 HCs matching in terms of age and sex were included in the study. Patients and HCs were compared in terms of CBC parameters [neutrophil, monocyte, platelet, lymphocyte, neutrophil/lymphocyte (NLR), monocyte/lymphocyte (MLR), platelet/lymphocyte (PLR)], HDL and MHR ratio. When compared with the HCs, acne vulgaris patients had statistically significantly higher neutrophil, NLR ratio and HDL (P=.042, P=.011 and P=.014, respectively). No statistically significant difference was found between acne vulgaris patients and the HCs in terms of other CBC parameters and MHR ratio (P>.05). We believe that prospective studies consisting of large patient series are needed to understand whether CBC parameters and MHR ratio can be used as an inflammatory marker in acne vulgaris patients.