Associations Between Subclinical Inflammatory Markers and OCD: A Retrospective Study

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Immunology

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has a complex etiology.
• Emerging evidence suggests inflammation plays a role in OCD pathogenesis.
• Subclinical inflammatory markers require further investigation in OCD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between OCD and subclinical inflammatory markers, specifically neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR).
• To examine the relationship between antidepressant medication dosage and NLR/PLR levels in OCD patients.
• To determine the predictive value of NLR and PLR for OCD diagnosis.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of electronic medical records (EMR) for 135 adult OCD patients and 133 healthy controls.
• Calculation of NLR and PLR from blood cell counts.
• Determination of fluoxetine-equivalent-dose (FED) to assess antidepressant effects on NLR and PLR.

Main Results:

• NLR and PLR were significantly elevated in the OCD group compared to controls.
• PLR did not correlate with FED, suggesting it is a robust biomarker independent of medication.
• NLR and PLR were significant predictors of OCD in logistic regression analyses.

Conclusions:

• Elevated NLR and PLR are associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• PLR shows potential as a reliable biomarker for assessing treatment response in OCD, unlike NLR.
• Inflammatory markers NLR and PLR may aid in the diagnosis and management of OCD.