New Neutrophil Parameters in Diseases with Various Inflammatory Processes

Area of Science:

• Hematology
• Immunology
• Oncology

Background:

• Neutrophil evaluation is crucial for understanding inflammatory processes.
• Novel neutrophil parameters offer insights into cellular complexity, maturation, size, and activity.
• Distinguishing immune responses in conditions like COVID-19, lung cancer, and sarcoidosis requires advanced diagnostic tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze novel neutrophil parameters in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), lung cancer (LC), and sarcoidosis (SA).
• To compare these parameters against healthy controls (HCs).
• To assess the utility of neutrophil characteristics in identifying disease-specific immune responses.

Main Methods:

• Peripheral blood samples were collected from COVID-19, LC, SA patients, and HCs.
• Novel neutrophil parameters including complexity (NEUT-GI, NE-WX), maturation (IG), size (NE-FSC, NE-WZ), and activity (NEUT-RI, NE-WY) were analyzed.
• Analysis was performed using the Sysmex XN-1500 automated hematology analyzer.

Main Results:

• The immature granulocyte (IG) parameter was highest in the lung cancer group.
• Neutrophil size (NE-FSC) was reduced across all disease groups compared to HCs.
• Complexity (NE-WX, NE-WY, NE-WZ) and activity parameters showed distinct patterns, with highest values in LC patients and lowest in HCs, indicating disease-specific alterations.

Conclusions:

• Novel neutrophil parameters provide valuable information on neutrophil reactivity, morphology, and exhaustion.
• These parameters demonstrate potential for differentiating between COVID-19, lung cancer, sarcoidosis, and healthy states.
• Detailed blood count analysis, including these new neutrophil metrics, can reveal disease-specific immune response trends.