Systemic inflammatory indices as biomarkers in adolescents with methamphetamine use disorder: a case-control study

Despite the rising prevalence of methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) among adolescents and its severe consequences, data on hematological inflammatory indices in this population remain limited.

This study aimed to evaluate systemic inflammatory markers in adolescents with MUD and their associations with addiction severity.

The retrospective case-control study included 44 adolescents with MUD and 44 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. Hematological indices were calculated from complete blood count data, including neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), derived NLR (dNLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio (MLR), Basophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (BLR), systemic immune-inflammation index (SII), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and aggregate index of systemic inflammation (AISI). Group comparisons, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses, and partial correlations were performed.

The MUD group included 30 females (68.2%) and 14 males (31.8%); the control group included 25 females (56.8%) and 19 males (43.2%). Adolescents with MUD showed significantly higher neutrophil and platelet counts, NLR, dNLR, PLR, MLR, SII, SIRI, and AISI, alongside reduced lymphocyte counts, compared with controls (all p < .05). ROC analyses revealed good discriminative ability for SII (AUC = 0.79), AISI (AUC = 0.73), and SIRI (AUC = 0.69). Several indices, including NLR, PLR, and SII, correlated negatively with treatment motivation, while PLR and MLR correlated positively with diagnostic severity.

Adolescents with MUD demonstrate marked systemic inflammatory alterations detectable through routine hematological indices. These markers may serve as low-cost, clinically accessible biomarkers for identifying high-risk individuals and monitoring disease severity, with implications for early intervention and personalized treatment.