Leucocyte Counts and Derivatives as Inflammatory Indicators in Active Tuberculosis

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a disease of public health concern in Nigeria as the country is listed among the 30 high TB burden countries in the world. It is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, an airborne pathogen. Tuberculosis disease is a manifestation of an active state of the infection when host immune response has been overwhelmed. Leucocytes participate in immune response, and traditionally, the total and differential counts have been useful in offering general outlook on inflammation as well as immunodeficiency. Lately, leucocyte derivatives such as neutrophil-tolymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (LMR) have been reported as bettermarkers of inflammation in some disease conditions. This study assessed total and differential leucocyte counts together with the derivatives in active tuberculosis infection among 80 tuberculosis patients and equal number of matched controls. Total and differential leucocyte counts were determined using standard haematology autoanalyzer, while the ratios were mathematically derived. Data were analyzed and hypotheses tested using student’s t-test on statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21. A p-value of ≤0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was significantly higher in TB patients,while lymphocyte-monocyte ratio was significantly lower in TB patients than the control. Furthermore, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was significantly higher, while the lymphocytemonocyte ratio was significantly lower in TB patients at diagnosis (n=26) in comparison withthose on treatment (n=54). There is derangement in leucocyte derivatives in association with tuberculosis. These derivatives improved significantly as anti-TB treatment progressed. Therefore, these variables could serve as useful indicators in the monitoring of treatment for TB patients.&nbsp