Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) values may differentiate between patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) with and without active disease, according to a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation. Arduino A. Mangoni, PhD, and Angelo Zinellu, PhD, conducted a systematic review of studies comparing NLR and PLR values between patients with RA with and without active
disease. Data were included from 18 studies with 2,122 patients with RA with active disease and 1,071 patients with RA with nonactive disease. Active disease was linked with significantly higher NLR and PLR values (standard mean differences [SMD], 0.37 and 0.48, respectively). In a sensitivity analysis, sequentially removing individual studies did not substantially influence the SMD values. No publication bias was seen. The effect size was not associated with other study or patient characteristics, including sex, Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS-28), C-reactive protein (CRP), and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in meta-regression.
