Evaluation of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and hematologic parameters in patients with Graves' disease

While the ratio of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte (NLR) increases with inflammation, its importance in Graves' disease is not clear. The aim of this study was to evaluate NLR, a marker of chronic inflammmation, in Graves' disease.

86 Graves' patients (37 before treatment,49 euthyroid patients after treatment) and 112 controls were enrolled. Hematologic parameters, thyroid function tests, age and gender were recorded. NLRs were calculated. Firstly, groups were composed as Graves' group (Group1) and participants without thyroid disorder as control group (Group2). Secondly, Graves' patients before treatment were considered as Group1a, euthyroid Graves' patients after antithyroid treatment were considered as Group1b. These groups were compared with each other in terms of descriptive data and hematological parameters.

Lymphocyte, monocyte, platelet, free T3, and free T4 levels were significantly higher in Graves' group than the controls. TSH and NLR were significantly lower in Graves' group Graves' than the controls. Differences among group1a and group1b for monocyte (p = 0.013), for basophil (p= 0.002), for platelet (p = 0.029), and for NLR (p = 0.029) were statistically significant.

Unlike other inflammatory diseases, in Graves' disease; hematological parameters may not give information about inflammatory state of the disease. Therefore, NLR should be evaluated with other serum inflammatory markers in Graves' disease (Tab. 2, Fig. 1, Ref. 26).