Abstract
Background
There is limited research on the relevance of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), monocyte-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients diagnosed with relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).
Objective
The main objective of this study was to evaluate the significance of NLR, MLR, and PLR levels in the peripheral blood of patients diagnosed with RRMS.
Methods
A total of 109 patients with RRMS recruited from the Department of Neurology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University from January 2018 to January 2024 were retrospectively analyzed, and 71 healthy population as controls (HC). Clinical data including age, sex, blood routine, serum uric acid (SUA),radiological investigations including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain and spinal cord were done(A standardized protocol of MRI comprising T2-weighted and T1-weighted gadolinium enhancing were performed using 3.0 Tesla superconducting MR imager)and Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS) of all RRMS patients were collected.
Results
The levels of NLR, MLR and PLR were significantly higher in RRMS patients compared to the HC. RRMS patients with moderate-severe disability had higher NLR and MLR levels than those with mild disability. Logistic regression analysis showed that NLR was associated with disease disability (odds ratio(OR):1.470; confidence interval(CI):1.024–1.153; P:0.046). The cutoff value for the NLR to predict RRMS disability was 2.17.NLR was higher in RRMS patients with disease activity than in those without activity (p = 0.045), while SUA was lower in RRMS patients with disease activity than in those without activity (p = 0.033). Compared with HC,RRMS patients had lower SUA levels (p = 0.008). Additionally, SUA levels decreased with the increase of EDSS scores (P = 0.003), and NLR value was negatively correlated with SUA (p = 0.022).
Conclusions
The levels of NLR,MLR and PLR in peripheral blood of RRMS patients in the acute phase are higher than those of healthy people, and NLR has a certain predictive value for the severity of disability. Furthermore, we suggest that NLR and SUA are related to the disability and activity of RRMS, albeit exerting opposing effects on the disease.