Inflammatory Markers in Women with Infertility: A Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Immunology
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• Infertility affects a significant portion of the population, with increasing evidence linking it to inflammatory processes.
• Inflammatory markers, such as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), are emerging as potential indicators of various health conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the independent relationships between specific inflammatory markers and infertility in women.
• To explore the association of NLR and PLR with infertility in a large cohort of female patients.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 1028 infertile female patients hospitalized between January 2016 and December 2022.
• Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) were measured as key inflammatory markers.
• Stratified analysis based on body mass index (BMI) was conducted, comparing low-BMI and high-BMI groups.

Main Results:

• Overweight infertile women exhibited significantly higher levels of white blood cell count, platelet count, lymphocyte count, neutrophil count, and NLR compared to normal-weight individuals.
• A significant positive correlation was observed between NLR and PLR in both univariate and multiple regression analyses.
• The overweight group showed noticeably higher levels of these inflammatory markers compared to the normal weight group.

Conclusions:

• A significant positive correlation exists between NLR and PLR in infertile women.
• These findings support the potential utility of NLR and PLR as biomarkers for infertility.
• The results may contribute to the development of novel prediction models for infertility.